Mullingar girl shortlisted for hot press competition

Mullingar’s Aoife Hynes (17) has been short-listed for the Hot Press competition Write Here, Write Now.

The talented Loreto student had two short films selected for the Fresh Film Festival in Dublin’s Lighthouse Cinema in March, and now she has the chance to win a summer internship with Hot Press because of her creative writing ability.

If she wins, Aoife will also receive a €250 cash prize, a certificate of achievement, as well as having her winning entry published in a special issue of Hot Press.

Judging her skills will be Roddy Doyle, the author who created the Barrytown Trilogy, which focuses on the Rabbitte family and is made up of The Commitments (1987), The Snapper (1990) and Man Booker Prize nominee, The Van (1991).

“A few weeks ago I sent an entry into the Write Here, Write Now competition in the Hot Press magazine,” says Aoife.

“I had to create a place in 500 words or less, much as Roddy Doyle did with Barrytown in the Barrytown trilogy. I was delighted to discover that I am on the short-list of 10 people and will be featuring in Hot Press’s next issue.”

Creative by nature, Aoife just finished performing in the Mullingar Student Players’ production of CATS. She also writes poetry and plans to go on the Slam Poetry circuit in Dublin, following in the footsteps of her father Dave, also a writer.

“I don’t like sitting still. I find I have a lot of energy. If I find something creative, and if you’re getting something out of it, it’s the most worthwhile thing you can do,” Aoife told the Westmeath Examiner.