The English department would like to congratulate Fatima Siddiqui, 13GDJ on being awarded the Howell Family Trust Scholarship for 2024.

The Howell Scholarship provides an amazing opportunity to support ākonga to travel to a site of literary interest of their choosing. 

In her application and her interview, Fatima expressed her desire to travel to South India, specifically Kerala, the UNESCO City of Literature Kozhikode, and Santiniketan, the university town founded by Rabindranath Tagore, one of India's most influential literary figures.

Fatima was able to talk in great detail about the importance of literature, its ability to reach deep human truths, and how great writing can shape the world of its reader and change the way we see and understand ourselves. Her travel itinerary was inspired by Arundhati Roy’s terrific but controversial Booker Prize-winning novel The God of Small Things, which explores the themes of the caste system, forbidden love, ethnic and religious conflict, and the havoc that untold historical forces can wreak on individual lives.

Fatima’s love of literature has meant that she has been a regular entrant in English competitions over her time at Christchurch Girls’ High School | Te Kura o Hine Waiora and we are delighted to be able to reward such a worthy recipient.

We wish her safe travels and we can’t wait to hear of her adventures!