Julie Damwichers from Parcival College Groningen wins writing competition ‘Stijlvoltreffer 2023’

Julie Damwichers from Parcival College Groningen has won the Stijlvoltreffer 2023 writing competition with her column Rook . On Monday evening, guest writer Raoul de Jong announced the winners during a festive award ceremony. Winner Julie wrote her column about the impact of an unfortunate family relationship. The writing competition was organised by the Dutch language profile enhancement team of the UG's Faculty of Arts.

Northern students were challenged to showcase and develop their writing talent during a column writing competition. 45 enthusiastic students from ten schools in the region participated.  This year, the competition focused on the work of Raoul de Jong, the guest writer at the University of Groningen for 2023-2024.

Preparation during the Week of Dutch

During the Week of Dutch, students were prepared to become columnists in a workshop carousel. They learned about the genre, their own writing approach, and the theme 'Where do I come from?'. Ambassadors of the Week of Dutch, Esohe Weyden and Pete Wu, performed about the search for emotion in Dutch. After the workshops, students had a month to write their columns.

Vivid language

The top fifteen columns were selected and presented to an expert jury. The jury consisted of Pauline Durlacher (former director of the Writers' School), Maaike Borst (journalist at Dagblad van het Noorden), Anne van der Werf (Dutch teacher at H.N. Werkman Stadslyceum Groningen), Lucas van der Deijl (assistant professor of early modern Dutch literature, UG) and Suzanne Veenstra (student of Dutch Language and Culture at the UG).

On December 11, Raoul de Jong announced the winners during a festive award ceremony. The jury praised Julie for her vivid language. Her text had a powerful twist and thoughtful formulation. Every word was carefully chosen. She receives a prize of 200 euros and a publication in the Dagblad van het Noorden. The second prize went to Robin Vos from Roelof van Echten College. Vivian Muggen, also from Roelof van Echten College, took third place with her column.