The winner of the National Letter-Writing Competition 2021 has been awarded in an event held on Wednesday 30 June at MaltaPost Head Office. The 50th UPU International Letter-Writing Competition - 2021 was organised by the Universal Postal Union with the theme: "Write a letter to a family member about your experience with COVID-19" and launched nationally for youths by MaltaPost in collaboration with the Education Authority. This competition was aimed to encourage young students to develop their literacy and creative skills.
A 13-year-old student from St Monica School in Gżira, Victoria Carol Austin, won the national competition. Her letter will now go through to the final stage of the competition and will compete with writers worldwide. In an emotional letter to her grandad, who passed away last January, Victoria explained the struggles and uncertainty she had to face during the pandemic.
All students who participated in this competition demonstrated ability in creative writing; however, the Board considered Victoria's entry to be an impressive job, impeccably written and fulfils all the criteria required by the Universal Postal Union.
All participants were presented with a complimentary guided tour at the Malta Postal Museum as a token of appreciation. In addition, Victoria received the publication Malta Stamp Collection a prestigious publication which includes national stamp sets issued between 1964 and 2004 and €100 worth of vouchers from BDL BOOKS. The prize was presented by MaltaPost's Chief Executive Officer Mr Joseph Gafa'.
The first UPU International Letter-Writing Competition was launched 50 years ago, and Malta won the first prize in 1974 and 1996 with letters from authors Sandra Theuma (Magro) and Mariana A. Baldacchino respectively.
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