Right stuff for the Write Stuff

Wednesday 01 May 2019

Chloe Sebire, Sam Brown and Lizzie Kennedy are the class winners in this year’s Guernsey Literary Festival’s Write Stuff competition for local school pupils, which attracted a record 700 entries from 21 schools.

Young writers were asked to create a special place from their imagination for this year’s competition, which was open to local pupils in the Bailiwick of Guernsey of all ages. The title for this year’s 300-word competition was ‘Imaginary Worlds’.

Head judge for the competition was historian, explorer and best-selling author Huw Lewis-Jones, and the three other judges were award-winning authors Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Ross Collins and Piers Torday. Filter judges were Tony Booth and Rachel Wyatt. The competition was sponsored by Julius Baer.

Chloe, from Hautes Capelles (Year 4) won the Primary Category with her story If Only it was Imaginary, which greatly impressed Mr Collins.

He said: "Chloe's story is a worthy winner. Using very little description or explanation she manages to skilfully throw the reader into the worlds of two endangered animals. By seeing through their eyes we feel their visceral fear. It's a smart and gripping piece which makes the reader pause to think about the world we all share."

Mr Torday judged Year 7 Elizabeth College pupil Sam Brown as the winner in the Intermediate (Years 7, 8 and 9) class with his story The Red Terror.

"This is the beginning of a story rather than a complete one, but no less satisfying for it,’ said Piers. ‘Written with an effortless sense of place, mystery and menace worthy of Ursula le Guin herself, this author has storytelling in their bones - I want to read on!"

Ladies College student Lizzie Kennedy won the Senior Class for Year 10 and above with her story A Perfect World, which was judged a winner by Ms Millwood Hargrave.

"This entry was my winner because I was (and am!) desperate to read on," she said. "The author created a brilliant set up with a few deft lines, and the piece is pleasingly free of cliche, written in confident prose that really gives insight into our protagonist's mind and situation. I would see this as a better-written Uglies, or The Belles, if it were ever finished - which I hope it will be."

The winning stories will be read at a special presentation event at the Guernsey Literary Festival Hub in Market Square, St Peter Port at 17:30 on Saturday 4 May. 

Pictured top: The Literary Festival in 2018.