Writing competitions

Author of Tomorrow aims to find future adventure writers. Young people under 21 can send entries (参赛作品) between 1,500 and 5,000 words (under 500 words for primary-aged pupils). The prizes are £1,000 for the 16-21 age group, £100 and £150 in book tokens (购书券) for the 12-15 age group, and £100 and £150 in book tokens for the 11 and under age group. The closing date is 29th April.

Tadpole Press is running a worldwide 100-word writing competition open to writers of all ages. Entries of 100 words can be sent in any type. The competition requires a small entry fee and 1st place receives a cash prize, while 2nd and 3rd places get writing coaching and editing packages. The deadline is 30th April.

The Martha Mills Young Writers’ Prize invites young people in the UK aged 11-14 to send under 500 words of “writing that is lively, unusual or otherwise original”. This year’s topic is “The Stranger” and the closing date is 22nd May.

War Through Children’s Eyes is open to children aged 7-17 in the UK and aims to “raise awareness of the impact of wars on the communities caught up in them, and particularly on the most vulnerable members of those communities: their children”: Entries of up to 1,000 words are invited, and full details about the competition are available on its website. The closing date is 10th May.

It was my first day in my school’s Gifted & Talented Program. Just minutes before, I had been called upon by my teacher and told to report to the cafeteria, where classes would be held. Feelings of nervousness seized me as I walked to the cafeteria for the very first time. I knew the most distinguished students would be waiting and, secretly, I wondered if I belonged. At that time in life, I struggled with acceptance.

I quickly found a seat in the back corner. As Mr. Canereli introduced himself, his calm voice settled the butterflies in my stomach.

“Today we will begin with a deductive reasoning puzzle,” he announced, breaking the stillness in the room.

“You will be given five minutes to read the clues and solve the puzzle.”

I quickly read through the clues, failing to come to any conclusions. “Breathe… slow down… you can do this….” I whispered to myself.

At this age, I felt pressure to thrive in all academic subjects. Since my mom and my dad hadn’t completed college, and my older sister did not do her best in school, I always put extra pressure on myself to do well. I refused to accept failure of any kind.

The clues repeated themselves in my head and I picked up my pencil. Before I knew it, X’s and O’s covered my paper. The entire puzzle was completed! I raised my hand and waved in sheer excitement. The assignment, initially associated with fear and doubt, had transformed into a representation of acceptance and personal excellence.

That day, I not only learned how to think but also discovered the potential to achieve anything I set my mind to. Now, my objective is to pass on the invaluable lessons I gained from Mr. Canereli on my first day in the seventh-grade Gifted & Talented Program. As a young woman, I seek to educate, equip, and inspire those in need and, as I enter college, I will use these tools to contribute to my environment.

San-Francisco based OpenAI made its big drop during the Spring Festival holidays. The up-to-one-minute-long realistic videos created by the text-to-video AI generator Sora are so remarkable that they resulted in people imaging the limitless possibilities of this generator could have. Sora is probably able to reshape the entire movie industry.

According to OpenAI’s explainer, Sora is capable of generating complex scenes with accurate details, including multiple characters, specific types of movements, themes, and backgrounds. It understands not only what the user requests, but also how these things exist in the physical world.

Industry observers have noted that the emergence of the video-generation model was highly anticipated. However, there have been comments expressing surprise at the speed of its development, with some individuals excitedly declaring “the arrival of a new industrial revolution.” On the other hand, there are concerns that this advancement may lead to “the disappearance of reality” as we know it, and that it could potentially cause a battle against the dominance of Hollywood in the movie industry.

“When I see Sora, the first word that comes to my mind is ‘shock,’ like the majority in the film industry. As film producers, we understand the potential impact of AI on the various aspects of film production, some positions such as those relating to movie preview would be impacted,” Ma Heliang, a film producer said.

“But the current technology is still far from reaching the levels required for making theatrical films, or to hollow out the entire movie industry. Over the past 100 years, movies have established an emotional connection and a shared social space with the audience. It involves socializing and sharing aesthetics, making it a complex entity. It is not possible to replace this experience with a simple video clip generated by AI,” Ma noted.

But the strong capability of Sora tells us that the direction of relying on AI to assist in human creativity is becoming increasingly clear. It allows creators to be less restricted by industrial processes and enables them to express what they want more freely using AI tools.

Yuck! Chicken blood splashes onto the floor and insects fly everywhere in the market. The old Indian woman waves the butcher knife. You’re speechless. Your friend who moved to India a few months before you notices your horror. “It’s just something they do,” he clarifies.

You’ve heard living abroad is good for you. Experiences like this one make you say “Seriously?”

Yes. Seriously.

Researchers William Maddux and Hajo Adam have discovered not only that cultural experiences are good for you, but they’ve also discovered why they’re good for you. Cultural experiences can make you more creative.

Maddux and his team discovered that learning about new cultures you encounter deeply is key to obtaining cognitive rewards. The team did a series of experiments with people who had lived abroad for a long time. They asked the sojourners (旅居者) to recall experiences where they: learned something about the culture they lived in abroad; learned something about their own culture; did something unrelated (like visiting a supermarket). Those who recalled learning something about a new culture did much better on a creative problem-solving task immediately afterward.

Maddux and his team wondered, though. Does learning new cultures always help? Is it enough to just notice that another culture is different? In another experiment they had a group of people recall an experience where they learned something new about a foreign culture but hadn’t been able to learn about the reasons for it.

The people who later were made aware of the hidden reasons for the novel, different, or unexpected behaviors they had come across were much more creative afterward than those who weren’t.

This means that even though discovering cultural differences exist is great, it’s not enough to influence how you think in other situations. You have to learn why a cultural difference exists. That’s what helps you spot new connections later, in other aspects of your life.