Every year at their annual expert day, the Irish Epilepsy League run a competition for health science students to write a creative essay in prose/ poetry about epilepsy.
The Irish Epilepsy League are the Irish chapter of the International League Against Epilepsy. Their membership comprises of epilepsy healthcare professionals and the epilepsy research and scientific community working in Ireland.
The competition is usually open-ended and could be based on an experience in real-life; an experience through their training; or fictional stories from the patient's perspective. Epilepsy Ireland usually assist our colleagues in the Irish Epilepsy League by having a representative on the judging panel, and over the years, there have been incredibly pieces submitted.
People we engage with occasionally make the point that their epilepsy can be misunderstood by those within the medical community or other members of the public. However, the future is certainly looking bright when it comes to the next generation of medical professionals judging by the insights presented in these incredible pieces.
With the competition now running for several years, we have featured winning entries from previous years in this section of our website - as well as some incredible entries that were received by the judging panel.
We have no doubt that the themes explored in these pieces will speak to many people with epilepsy reading and are proud to feature them on our website.