SALE student Siyang Wei has been announced as one of the joint winners of a top literary honour - the prestigious Woolf Essay Prize 2014.
The prize is given by Newham College, part of Cambridge University and the scene of a famous lecture by the iconic author Virginia Woolf in 1928.
Dr Sam Lucy, Newnham College’s admission tutor and one of the judges said: “Siyang’s essay was well-grounded in evidence, was clear, well-structured and showed a sharp political sensibility too.”
Siyang, 17, said: “It was liberating to write something that wasn’t driven by a curriculum. My friend won an essay prize before and recommended that I enter one and I am so glad I did! I thought about it a lot before I actually sat down and started writing.”
The teenager won £250 and was presented with a certificate by Dame Carol Black, Newnham’s Principal.
Siyang is pictured with Dr Sam Lucy and Dame Carol Black.
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