Creative talent from Edinburgh Napier has helped bring a flavour of France to the walls of one of the most prestigious buildings on the Royal Mile.
As part of their studies, French and German students from Edinburgh Napier and French students from the University of Edinburgh were invited to enter the second edition of a creative writing competition to showcase their language skills.
The texts have been brought to life with the help of graphic design students and lecturers Myrna MacLeod and Mick
Dean from Edinburgh Napier, with a suite of elegant, eye-catching posters that display the stories being produced.
These posters have gone on display within the new French Consulate on Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile. The building was formally inaugurated at the end of November by Princess Anne, the Princess Royal. First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon also attended the official opening.
Situated within the former chambers for Lothian regional council opposite the city’s
St Giles Cathedral, the building will be the new home to the French Institute for Scotland, offering French classes, a specialist library of French literature with 30,000 books, and a 100-seat concert venue. Hosting a number of cultural organisations, it aims to become a new/true cultural hub at the heart of Edinburgh.
The creative writing competition is the brainchild of Sylvain Blanche – a part-time lecturer in French at Edinburgh Napier University, tutor at the University of Edinburgh and teacher at the French Institute in Edinburgh.
As a result of this success, it is hoped the competition will be extended to secondary schools next year.
Sylvain Blanche, part-time lecturer in French at Edinburgh Napier, said: “It is always a delight to see the students’ hard work being displayed and recognised by people such as the French General Consul. It makes me very proud to see this competition, which started at Edinburgh Napier University, growing every year, to become a cross university, cross language, cross discipline event. In this world, we need to build bridges, not destroy them.”
The winners of the competition were as follows:
First prize: Klaudia Chrzaszcz
Second prize: Lily Kneale
Third prize: Raquel Rodriguez de Ledesma Cervantes
Francophone category
First prize: Camille Martin
Second prize: Jade Meneghini
Best poster: Catriona McDonald and Jamie Caldwell
Well done to all those that took part!
Photo header image courtesy of Ludovic Farine