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The 10th anniversary of the Guernsey Literary Festival’s youth writing competition looks set to be a celebration, with a record number of entries submitted last year.
The WriteStuff competition, which launched yesterday, attracted 883 300-word stories from 26 schools in 2023.
The creative hook for this year is ‘The Party’, and those two words must be included in the title.
But the writers can decide to take the story whichever way they want, with freedom to develop characters, settings, and the plot.
Each year the competition is judged by a series of acclaimed authors, and this year Rashmi Sirdeshpande, Sam Copeland, Frances Hardinge and Huw Lewis Jones – all published children’s book writers – have been selected.
The best stories will be selected on account of the quality of writing, originality, and memorable moments – with cash prizes and trophies on offer.
Bespoke illustrations of the winning stories will be produced by local artist Sheena le Messurier.
The deadline for entries is 8 March which should be submitted online, with an awards ceremony in May.
Pictured: Students have two months to pen their stories.
There are four competitive classes for primary, secondary, senior, and special educational needs students.
Ms Sirdeshpande will judge the first category. She has won numerous awards for her young children’s picture books which often focus on education and feature dinosaurs.
Sam Copeland takes on the intermediate class. Known for his ‘Charlie Changes Into a Chicken’ series, he also works as a literary agent representing bestselling writers.
Senior judge Frances Hardinge originally worked in software but was convinced to get a book published. It went on to receive critical acclaim and she has since published a series of successful books and sequels.
SEND judge Dr Huw Lewis Jones grew up in Guernsey and now works at Falmouth University teaching history and creative disciplines. He often focus on polar and natural themes in his work and his books have been published in 19 languages.
Filter judges include Julia Bichard and Adam Bayfield from the Guille-Alles Library, local author Nick Le Messurier and Suzie Almond - a creative education specialist with experience of first round judging for the BBC 500 words and Settle Stories.
The competition is sponsored by Julius Baer and promoted by Festival partners including YouAndUs, the Guille-Allès Library, Guernsey Arts, and Island Families.
Alexandra McInnes, Managing Director of Julius Baer Guernsey, said: “The Write Stuff goes from strength to strength and we’re sure this year is going to be the biggest and best one yet.
“The young writers always bring creative thinking to the challenge and The Party is a fantastic start point for any budding young author.”
Pictured (top): Rashmi Sirdeshpande, Frances Hardinge, (bottom) Sam Copeland and Huw Lewis Jones.
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