The fifth edition of the Algonquin Reads contest was won by Sarah Fiesta, a law clerk student, for the best creative piece category.
Fiesta drew a stimulating portrait of Mãn, the main character, which is also the name of the novel selected for the contest.
The novel portrays Mãn’s life in Vietnam during the Vietnamese war before she immigrated to Montreal to begin a new chapter of her life.
“Her story depicted in the novel was quite melancholy, so I tried reflecting that in the portrait,” said Fiesta.
She entered the contest after taking an English elective last semester – popular canadian literature.
“Our final assignment consisted of either writing an essay or making a creative piece, so I decided to tackle the creative piece since drawing was a more desirable option for me,” she said.
“Along with the assignment was also the possibility of entering the contest if you reached the required percentage mark,” added Fiesta.
It’s a competition that bring diverse parts of the college together.
“We try to get judges from different areas of the school,” said Helena Merriam, the coordinator of the library and information technician program and a member of the Algonquin Reads committee.
“We had Cheryl Jensen, the president of the college, be one of our judges. Kim Thuy, the writer herself, looked at the creative category,” said Merriam.
Fiesta liked the reoccurring theme of family, as well as friendship, and how it can help someone to grow or mend them.
“In the portrait there are several elements that pop out such as the swallows on her head and how all of them have affected her but only one was her lasting foundation through life,” she said.
“There are also other things the viewer sees such as the colour that envelopes her and the red dots that show how new experiences she has had with others are rebuilding her and making her grow through life,” said Fiesta.