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Index Foreword ........................................................................................ 4 The Judging Panel .......................................................................... 6 Appreciation Note .......................................................................... 8 List of Entrants in the Third Round of the Competition for 2016 .......................................................................................... 10 Penned Thoughts: Judges’ Report ................................................. 18 Summary of Results ....................................................................... Penned Thoughts Statistics ........................................................... 21 Su rvey Responses ........................................................................... 24 Poetry ............................................................................................. 30 Articles ........................................................................................... 36 Short Stories ...................................................................................45 The National Youth Commission - Brief Description .................... 71 3 0000000000 AliAli MMehdiehdi newnew 2016-1.indd2016-1.indd 3 112/1/162/1/16 111:081:08 AAMM Foreword This is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings. That you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong. (F. Scott Fitzgerald) Writing is perhaps the greatest of all human inventions, binding people together who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs…A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic. (Carl Sagan) It is from literature that wise people derive consolation in the troubles of life. (Victor Hugo) A good metaphor is something even the police should keep an eye on. (Lichtenberg) There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. (Ralph Waldo Emerson) Once more we must warmly thank our competition entrants and applaud their efforts. Progress is evident in such areas as making each word count, striving for the figurative, and, in verse, using rhyme more judiciously. One might recommend now further exploration of language’s rhythmic possibilities. Meanwhile, the quotations above speak to all our entrants, whether winners or not. The first and third, from Scott Fitzgerald and Victor Hugo, remind us of a reassuring quality of literature, namely that, no matter what problems 4 0000000000 AliAli MMehdiehdi newnew 2016-1.indd2016-1.indd 4 112/1/162/1/16 111:081:08 AAMM afflict us, they are shared by others. In the second, Sagan says our writing may even grant us a small place in the vast context of human history. Centuries from now someone may read our poems, stories and essays and discover what our contemporary lives and societies are like. Lichtenberg’s wittily facetious comment of course is a timely reminder of metaphor’s power and place near the heart of good writing. And as for Emerson, his mention of creative reading is a reminder to all aspiring writers. It can be linked to another facetious remark, this one by Howard Nemerov, who once quipped: “Write what you know. That should leave you with a lot of free time!” His point was obvious. Without material to write about, there’s no point even lifting our pens. This is where reading – oceans of it – comes in. “The best writers are the best readers” is a slogan that keeps recurring in leading modern scholarship. Witness its ubiquitous presence in texts on both writing and reading edited by Oman’s own Dr Rahma Al Mahrooqi: Focusing on EFL Reading: Theory and Practice (2014) and Methodologies for Effective Writing Instruction in EFL and ESL Classrooms (2015). Finally, all of us associated with the competition, in whatever capacity, look forward to the harvest of entries it will gather between now and 2017. Adrian Roscoe 5 0000000000 AliAli MMehdiehdi newnew 2016-1.indd2016-1.indd 5 112/1/162/1/16 111:081:08 AAMM The Judging Panel Prof. Adrian Roscoe Adrian Roscoe retired in 2015 after thirteen years’ work at Sultan Qaboos University, but continues to write. His latest books include Methodologies for Effective Writing Instruction, edited with Drs Rahma Al-Mahrooqi and Vijay Thakur (2015); Vol. I of The Common Touch: Popular Literature from Shakespeare to the Restoration, edited with Prof. Paul Scanlon (2014); and Focusing on EFL Reading, edited with Dr Rahma Al-Mahrooqi (2014). He is currently working on Volume II of The Common Touch (nearing completion) and on a book about Roman colonial attitudes to Britain. Dr. Susanne Shunnaq Dr. Susanne Ramadan Shunnaq is a Vienna born English literature specialist who has joined the English Department at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in 2013 after a 14- year teaching, research, and administrative career in academia in the Middle East. She holds a Ph.D in modern and contemporary American literature from The Pennsylvania State University, USA, where she was a Fulbright scholar between 1995- 1997. She is affiliated with Yarmouk University which is one of the high standing public universities of Jordan established in 1976. Fluent in three languages and an excellent reader of a fourth, she has been a member of the Jordanian Translators’ Association (J.T.A.) since 1994. She is currently a full-time faculty member at SQU and her most recent research is on teaching methods, English as an International Language (EIL), rhetoric, and current interests in literature. Dr. Faryal Ahmed Dr. Faryal Ahmed is currently working at Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. She is teaching skill based courses at the Language Centre. Prior to this she was teaching Language and Literature to the undergraduates, graduates and post graduates at Kinnaird College, Lahore, Pakistan. She was also involved in developing courses in Applied Linguistics, Management Studies, Communication and Teacher 6 0000000000 AliAli MMehdiehdi newnew 2016-1.indd2016-1.indd 6 112/1/162/1/16 111:081:08 AAMM Education. She has also taught English and communication courses at the Academy of Civil Services in Pakistan. She has a PHD in Management and a double Masters in Literature and Educational Management from Nottingham University, England. She is a gold and a distinction holder. Other than teaching she has served on several committees and was part of the committee that prepared the strategic plan for the Language Centre from 2004 – 2009. She has devoted her career in building and developing human potential where she has excelled in utilizing her core competencies of problem solving, organizing, and focusing on quality. She has not only been a teacher, but a facilitator, program developer, and a coordinator for hundreds of students in Oman and Pakistan. Dr. Adil Hassoun Al Khafaji Dr. Al Khafaji is Associate Professor of Linguistics and Translation. He obtained his M. A. in English as a Second or Foreign Language from the University College of North Wales, Bangor, UK and Ph. D. in Linguistics and Translation from Al Mustansiriya University, Iraq. He has more than 40 years of experience in ELT. He taught in Iraq, Jordan and, for the last 14 years, in Oman. Dr. Al Khafaji is a former British Council scholar and has published on ELT and translation studies. He is the author of the Translanguage Hypothesis in Applied Translation Studies. He is experienced in program design and worked as a program reviewer for the Omani Ministry of Higher Education. Dr. Chandrika Balasubramanian Dr. Chandrika Balasubramanian is an Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Sultan Qaboos University, where she has been for three years. She maintains an active research agenda, and publishes on diverse topics including the relationship between Emotional Intelligence and student success in Oman, vocabulary instruction in English classes in Oman, and English as an International Language. She strives to help students see the connections between the topics she researches and their daily lives, both current and future 7 0000000000 AliAli MMehdiehdi newnew 2016-1.indd2016-1.indd 7 112/1/162/1/16 111:081:08 AAMM Appreciation note: “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” Anaïs Nim As we conclude this Third Cycle of Penned Thoughts Young Writer’s Competition, the Organizing Committee would like to give thanks to all those who made it possible for the continuation of this competition. As always, sincere thanks and appreciation for the invaluable support and continued commitment of our esteemed judges; Prof. Adrian Roscoe who, over the years and despite his faraway place of sojourn continues his support and commitment, and Drs. Adil Al Khafaji, Chandrika Balasub- ramanian, Faryal Ahmed and in particular Dr Susanne R. Shunnaq who had the pivotal role in coordinating and communicate on behalf of the judges as well as collate and edit the work of the contestants. The dedica- tion and expertise of our entire judging panel is unmatched and very much highly appreciated. We are also honoured to continue receiving the generous sponsorship and support of the National Youth Commission who are dedicated to youth empowerment and we are humbled that they choose to do so through this channel. We would also like to thank a host of contributors, including Mr. Abbas Al Balushi for technical support, and for our talented young vid- eographers for their invaluable work on our promo videos and marketing material, Mr. Bashaar Zaitoun for his invaluable and selflessly offered administrative support. Last but not least, the Cultural Club

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