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Be Inspired Awards 2019 -Winners

Be Inspired Awards 2019 –Winners

ALL OF THE JUDGES COMMENTED ON HOW EXTREMELY DIFFICULT IT WAS TO PICK A WINNER IN EACH CATEGORY, SUCH WAS THE HIGH STANDARD.

Well done everyone!

  Senior – Photography Paddy O’Halloran 4th Year   “Really interesting capture of a foreign scene. The architecture creates an unusual frame and draws the eye in to the figures at the centre of the composition. Great work.”   –Photographer and Film Director Shaun O’Connor   Junior – Photography Jack Cullen 3rd Year   “Great use of horizontal lines, drawing the eye in. The contrast from the left to right is striking too. Super composition and super work.”   – Photographer and Film Director Shaun O’Connor
  Senior – Art Tadgh Twomey  5th Year   “Highly impressive, imaginative composition is sustained throughout this wonderful children’s storybook creation. The endearing story is depicted in a way that is instantly attractive with its accomplished colour choice, style, perspective and technique.”   –Artist Una Collins   Junior – Art Yuzhe Chen 1st Year   “Amazing execution of this depiction of the comic-strip hero. Phenomenal attention to detail. The skilled brush-strokes, tone, shading and scale give this painting an immediate an impressive impact. Fantastic.”   –Artist Úna Collins
  Senior – Music Paddy O’Halloran 4th Year   “A very complex and interesting piece to uptake, which displayed considerable technique and independence. Rhythmically smooth, the phrasing kept my attention and made for an enjoyable listen. The feel was very authentic and really captured the jazz spirit while at the same time putting your own stamp on the piece. Very well done.”   James Downing from The Shruggs   Junior – Music Adrian Toma 2nd Year   “Don’t Lie (electronica) is a pleasant onslaught right from beat one, great use of L/R fading and the drop was lovely too. It was never boring and hard to keep still while listening. Catchy hooks, might well be a club classic one day in the future, overall excellent programming.”     James Downing from The Shruggs
  Senior – Poetry & Lyrics Aodh Ó Gallchóir 6th Year   “This piece could easily be inside an anthology of poems –and by acclaimed and recognised poets. Brilliant”   –Poet Brian O’Driscoll   Junior – Poetry & Lyrics James Connolly 1st Year   “Economical and succinct, it’s a typical, recognisable story of a school morning and the poem has great rhythm.”   –Poet Brian O’Driscoll
  Senior – Writing Gerald O’Donovan 6th Year   “Gerald’s writing is exceptional. His evocation of time and place with simply stunning prose is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s border trilogy. The authenticity and immediacy of character and situation is of the highest order, like that of Hilary Mantel say, or Denis Johnson. Amazing talent.”     -Author Ciarán Collins   Junior – Writing Tom Cullen 2nd Year   “Ever popular with younger writers, fantasy is the most prominent genre in the junior entries again this year. Tom is at home in the genre and coupled with his vivid imagination, it made for a thoroughly enjoyable and mysterious work. His skilled use of language to create spectacular imagery is salient in this memorable piece.”   -Author Ciarán Collins
 
  Senior –Book Review Mark Henchion 4th Year “Mature, economical and well-judged, this review has everything you want from a good book review. Never overstated, it is fit for publication anywhere. The use of comparable novels reflects the writer’s knowledge of both literature and the craft of the book review.”   -Author Ciarán Collins   Junior –Book Review Daniel O’Mahony 3rd Year “The writer’s love for the book is infectious in this accomplished review, but it was the highly impressive use of language that was most striking. The literary prowess of the writer of the review is a sure way of instilling confidence in the reader for the recommendation of the novel. Impressive stuff.”   -Author Ciarán Collins  

Be Inspired Awards 2019 -The Judges

PHOTOGRAPHY: Shaun O’Connor is an awarding-winning photographer and film director, whose exhibitions and films have had huge success at home and abroad. www.shaunoconnor.com

POETRY: Brian O’Driscoll is a poet, spoken word performer, writer and wordsmith who has appeared at many literary festivals and has had his work published broadly, including the magazine Headspace and Dimezine. www.poetart.com

ART: Úna Collins is a very successful Innishannon-based artist who trained in Mallow College of Art and Design and the Crawford. She has held several exhibitions of her work in Cork and has been invited to show work in various galleries around the country. www.unacollinsartist.com

MUSIC: James Downing is a member of the well-known band The Shruggs, a folk/pop musical duo fast becoming a force to be reckoned with on the Irish music scene.  www.theshruggs.wixsite.com/theshruggs 

WRITING: Ciarán Collins is mainly known for his award-winning novel The Gamal which was published by Bloombury (2013) and his play Primal which premiered in Cork Arts Theatre in 2019. www.ciarancollinsauthor.com 

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The Hobbit -book review by Christian McCarthy

Title of the novel: The Hobbit, or there and back again as it is referred to in the world in which it is set.

Author: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, otherwise known as J.R.R Tolkien. (1892-1973)                                                                                                     

Illustrator: J.R.R Tolkien’s own sketches were used in the edition used for reference during the writing of the review.                  

Publisher: The before mentioned edition of The Hobbit was published by Harper Collins Publishers 2011. The first edition of The Hobbit was published by George Allen & Unwin in the year 1937.

 Setting: The story takes place in the western region of the fictional land of Middle Earth, the main locations of the story being Rivendell, the Misty Mountains, the forest of Mirkwood, Lake Town and the Lonely Mountain, where the climax of the novel occurs.                                                             Main Characters: The main characters areBilbo Baggins, Gandalf, Elrond and the thirteen dwarves including Thorin Oakenshield, Gollum, The Necromancer, and the dragon Smaug among many other smaller characters.

Plot: The reserved hobbit Bilbo Baggins is dragged out of his comfy home by Gandalf and his troop of thirteen dwarves to participate in the absurd plan to reclaim the Lonely Mountain, filled with gold and once home to the proud dwarves, from the fierce dragon Smaug, who is guarding the treasure.

Their quest leads through the joyful Rivendell, house of Elrond, deep into the orc’s dark and evil underground city, though the harsh and dangerous forest of Mirkwood and finally, to the Lonely Mountain. Will Smaug turn out to be too great an enemy, even with the help of the immensely powerful Gandalf and with bigger enemies rallying their mercenaries, have Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves found themselves in more danger than they bargained for?   

My Review

My review: As it is not a series of books, Tolkien did well to make his story fulfilling and exciting while keeping it within the three-hundred or so pages that make up the Hobbit. The characters aren’t as fleshed out as in other classic novels but as the world Tolkien creates is so vast and layered, they don’t need to be. The climax of the novel is probably my favourite part of the book. Since I can’t spoil the ending because then there would be no point in you reading the book for yourself, all I will say is, that the ending comes out of nowhere but doesn’t feel like the author was stuck for an ending. Overall I really enjoyed both reading and reviewing the novel.

Things I enjoyed about the book: The world Tolkien creates is so large and dense as mentioned beforehand, it is mesmerising. All the races, the dwarves, hobbits, elves and men and also all of the other creatures, goblins, trolls and dragons add so much diversity and life to the world. 

Star review: ****

(The reason I gave this novel 4 stars is that, the story didn’t have a massive build up a book series like The Lord of The Rings had the time to do.)

“Faithless is he who says farewell when the road darkens.” – J.R.R. Tolkien