You've got the Write Stuff!

Monday 11 May 2020

The winners have been named in the 2020 Write Stuff competition - which was held despite the Guernsey Literary Festival being cancelled - with young writers from Hautes Capelles, Le Rondin and Sark School among those impressing the judges.

Nearly 500 students from 17 local schools took part this year, with their work then considered by a panel of judges, who are all professional writers themselves.

The subject of this year’s competition was Freedom, chosen to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the islands' liberation from occupying forces.

This year’s winners across the categories were Chloe Sebire from Hautes Capelles School (Primary class), Rebecca Hind from the Grammar School (Intermediate) and Naomi Miller, the Grammar School (Senior). Riley Robert won first prize at Le Rondin with William Galle's work Highly Commended.

You can see the full list of winners and runners up HERE.

The competition opened in January and young writers had until early March to submit their entries.

Head judge for the competition was a historian and best-selling author who is no stranger to the Festival, Huw Lewis-Jones, and the other judges were Andy Riley (Primary), Neal Layton (Intermediate class) and Onjali Q. Raúf (Senior) all of whom were due to be taking part in the Festival. The filter judges were Tony Booth and Guille Alles Library staff Adam Bayfield and Rachel Wyatt. Tony Booth and Anne Wilkes-Green supported local schools with the competition.

The challenge for young writers in the Bailiwick was to write an imaginary 300-word story inspired by the theme of Freedom. There were three classes, Primary (years 3-6), Intermediate (years 7-9) and Senior (years 10+). It is promoted by Guernsey Literary Festival partners the Guille-Allès Library, the Schools Library Service, Island Mums and The Guernsey Arts Commission.

There was a cash prize and a trophy for the winner in each category, with cash prizes for second and third places. In addition, the three winners in each category were also given a certificate and have had their entries published on the website. A presentation event was planned to take place during the Festival itself but will now be held later in the year.

All nine winning stories also have an illustration produced of their story by artist Ginny Morgan, which will serve as a cover on their digital story, and the original artwork will be given to the winners as part of their prize.

This is the first year of a new award, the SEND award, for students with special education needs – and the organisers were delighted by the number of entries received from Le Rondin and the calibre of the two winning entries.

To read all of the stories and the judge's comments click HERE.