To celebrate World Book Day 2023, Kemi Badenoch MP launched a short-story competition for school pupils across Chelmsford and Uttlesford.
The story had to be based in or about their local town or village.
After whittling down over 200 entries with the support of local author Alison Miles, Mrs Badenoch has announced Jessica from Great Easton Primary School as the winner for the year 5+6 category and India from Saffron Walden County High as the winner for the year 7+8, as well as two runners up in each category. The pupils will now receive a bundle of books kindly donated by Pearson and WHSmith.
Commenting, Mrs Badenoch said:
“I was delighted to support World Book Day again this year with my Short Story competition encouraging young writers across the constituency to create an imaginative story set in or about their town or village.
“I was impressed not only by the number of children who sent in an entry, but by the quality of stories. We have some talented future authors here in Chelmsford and Uttlesford.
“I would like to thank all the pupils, their parents and school staff who took the time to take part in the competition. It’s great to see how World Book Day has become an established date in the school calendar and one that children look forward to.
“Congratulations to Jessica and India for their well-written stories, both of which were rather mysterious and eerie. I hope they enjoy their prizes!”
Commenting, local author Alison Miles said:
“I strongly believe all creative arts are hugely beneficial to developing young minds. Writing has many benefits for children, such as problem solving, knowledge retention and improving communication skills, especially of complex ideas. It also makes people calmer and happier, and I am very much enjoyed reading the entries
“Jessica’s tale contained all the components of an engaging short story. She used evocative, descriptive language to set the scene and intensify the atmosphere. The story had powerful emotional content manifested in the relationships between the characters. It also had a surprising twist in the middle and another at the end, which brought the story to a close in an eloquent, simple, and effective way. “
“India’s story showed a consistent maturity of writing. She set the scene with an effective description, using metaphors and alliteration, which also lent the tale an engaging, poetic style. It was a super idea to hark back to the origins of Saffron Walden’s name. The story was well paced, and the ending certainly took me by surprise.”
Alison Miles is author of the 'Snippy the Crab' series of illustrated children's books, and is based in the Saffron Walden Constituency.
