The winners of the Wicked Young Writers’ Award have been announced for 2014 during a prestigious ceremony at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.
Over 5000 entries were received for this year’s competition with winning and highly commended entries tackling subjects such as bullying, love and dementia. Hosted by Savannah Stevenson who plays Glinda, the awards were presented by best-selling author Michael Morpurgo.
The winners are:
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.
Michael Morpurgo said of this year’s Award. “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. Congratulations to our 2014 winners, and we now look forward to encouraging even more young people across the country to express themselves through writing.”
The shortlisted finalist entries from the 5-17 year old age-categories have been published in an anthology celebrating the 2014 Wicked Young Writers’ Award. The shortlisted entries from the 18-25 year old age category have been published in an e-anthology downloadable from the Wicked Young Writers’ Award website www.wickedyoungwriters.com
