Judges praise young writers

Regular readers of my blogs will know that I greatly admire young writers - it is how we all started out, after all.
Well, The Wicked Young Writers’ Award has just announced its winners for 2014 at a ceremony at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, home of the award-winning musical Wicked.
The winning and highly commended entries included stories and poems about bullying, love, dementia and memory loss and the traumatic effects of war, selected from more than 5,000 entries submitted by individuals and schools all across the UK and Northern Ireland.
The long-running West End show launched the award in 2010 to recognise excellence in writing, encourage creativity and help develop writing talent in young Prizes were presented by Michael Morpurgo, best-selling author of War Horse and Chair Judge of the Award, who Michael Morpurgo said: “All these talented young writers have allowed their imagination to live and breathe. They haven’t been afraid to tell their stories and speak their poems down and to express themselves with originality and flair.”
Wicked's Executive Producer Michael McCabe said: “We've been inspired and excited by the creative skills and extraordinary pieces that we’ve received this year.”
The overall winners of the awards were named as:
5-7 Winner: :Liya Khan, age 6 from Birmingham, A Dinosaur Who Ate My Homework

Runner-up: Oscar Williams, age 6 from Northwood, The Bully, The Magic Potion and the Shadow.

8-10 Co-Winner: Susanna Tredinnick, age 10 from Harpenden. The Most Annoying Thing About My Little Brother.

Co-Winner: Caitlin Wilkins, age 10 from Windlesham, Surrey, The Lost Coin.

11-14 Winner: Rhian Hutchings, age 14 from Pontardawe, Wales, Solomon's Bank

15-17 Co-Winner: Freya Carter, age 15 from Sheffield, Seven for a Secret

Co-Winner: Zainab Abbass, age 15 from Sheffield, I'm Glad You're Not Here

18-25 Winner: Chris Pritchard, age 23, from Gloucester, I'll be your Tom if you'll be my Marilyn.
You can find out more at www.WickedYoungWriters.com

John Dean