By Dayo Adesulu
Amali Mucheke, a Year 7 student at Lagos Preparatory & Secondary School (LPSS) has won the Historical Association’s Historical Fiction Prize for her Year group. Her story titled ‘Freedom for All’ based around Colonial Nigeria won her the prize in her category.
The Historical Association’s Historical Fiction Prize is an annual competition open to all students from Year 5 to Year 9 (ages 9-14) but is limited to three entries per school. According to the Historical Association, ‘one of the key attributes of historical fiction is that it has a convincing setting in a past time and place. Students can set their stories in any period or place in the past, so the story can fit in with and extend any historical topic they may be studying’.
Amali’s entry was sent to London alongside two other LPSS entries, Bethany Okeowo’s, ‘The Maid’s Moment’ and Kitan Fagbamigbe’s story ‘The Queen, the Candle and the Golden Mirror’. Amali emerged as the winner from all the entries submitted by students from all over the world, in the Year 7 category.
Steps Judges take to declare Historical Fiction winner
According to the judges, “stories in each category are shortlisted by panels of student readers. The shortlist is then judged by our primary and secondary expert panels. Judges are looking for:
- Historical accuracy – even down to the choice of names characters are given and any props additional to the historical setting
- A riveting read with a good plot!
- A convincing story – is it plausible that these events and/or this character could have existed at the time?
- Use of historical knowledge to feed the plot, context and character
- Effective use of historical vocabulary and literary conventions, including where dialogue is included in the story
- Creative and interesting perspectives of story-telling. In the past we have received an entry telling the story of a siege from the perspective of the castle.”
- “We are very pleased, grateful to God and thankful for the school and community support,” said Mrs Mucheke, in celebration of this great news. Special thanks to the History and English Departments at Lagos Preparatory & Secondary School for their accurate teaching and gentle guidance as they helped the students with their final review. ‘This success is evidence of what we can achieve when we work as a team’ were the words of Mrs Lesley Barrett, the head of the History Department at LPSS who spearheaded the school’s involvement in the international competition.
This success comes on the back of Arshiya’s success two years ago. Arshiya’s Historical Fiction entry was published by Quaramo Publishing in 2017. Amali will receive a cash prize and Historical Association Paper weight from the Association and LPSS will receive a free year’s membership of the Historical Association. Discussions are in progress to publish Amali’s story.
