Schutzer-Weissman letter prize 2021 winner announced

The winner of this year’s 2021 Schutzer-Weissman letter-writing prize is Todd R-P (Rb).

The prize competition, in which all Third and Fourth form pupils take part, is for the most original and engaging letter on a set assignment. The prize was set up to commemorate the life of Mike Schutzer-Weissman (MASW), who headed the English Faculty for 17 years and died tragically in 2015.

This year’s challenging assignment was as follows:

   Write a letter from yourself at the age and stage you are today to your future self, imagining that the person you are writing to is you, aged 80.

From the shortlist of 50 letters, the judge, former Head of Biology Andrew Allott, selected three for podium positions. First prize went to Todd, with Isla B (M) and Luke W (SH) highly commended. Commenting on Todd’s letter, the judge wrote,  

"Of all the letters I felt that this one was the best piece of writing. There is real panache and originality. The images that are conjured up are striking and the ideas expressed about youth and old age are fascinating. I was immensely impressed and see this as the winning entry," said Mr Allott.

Todd’s letter is available to download.