Bangladeshi ninth grader wins QCEC Silver Award

Afifa Nawar, a ninth-grade student of Playpen, has earned the prestigious Silver Award in the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition (QCEC) 2025.

The Royal Commonwealth Society runs the QCEC, the world’s oldest international schools’ writing contest, and invites students from across the Commonwealth to explore themes such as identity, community and the natural world through their writing.

Afifa’s winning piece, a short story titled “Me, Steve and Something Else”, responds to a prompt about the life journey of a plant at the heart of a community.

In her story, a sunflower sprouting from an old tyre in an orphanage courtyard grows alongside a girl living with amnesia, quietly witnessing her struggle to reconstruct memories, her bond with her polynonymous goldfish Steve, and a final act of sacrifice that transforms both their journeys.

“I wanted the sunflower to feel like a character that grows with her,” Afifa said. “Plants seem quiet, but they experience so much change around them. I imagined what it would ‘remember’ if it could think and feel.”

Afifa, who loves reading, creative writing and making art, said the recognition has motivated her to keep telling stories and sharing them with others.

She is the eldest child of Syed Mohammed Salahuddin and Mst. Shultana Jasmin.

Teachers at Playpen said Afifa’s success in such a historic global competition is a proud moment for the school and for Bangladesh, expressing hope that her achievement will inspire more young writers to find and nurture their own voices.