STYLE | Feature
…a story to be continued
Children’s
Writing Competition
At the beginning of this year, Style of Wight proudly announced the return of its highly successful Children’s Writing Competition. We invited young Island authors to submit their best short stories to be judged by an expert panel of publishing professionals – including award-winning local author Kieran Larwood. Winning entries would be published in a book, with all profits going to local children’s charity, the IW Story Festival. It was to be an exciting year of literary events – including school visits and festival workshops – culminating in a prestigious prizegiving ceremony at Quay Arts this December. But, just a few weeks after February’s brilliant IW Story Festival at Riverside Centre in Newport, the world decided it had other plans. 2020 has been a lot of things. Though the iconic annual Oxford Word of the Year is yet to be announced, I think we can all hazard a guess at its result. And yet, in many ways, 2020 has also been the Year of the Story: according to a National Literacy Trust survey, 40% more children turned to creative writing during lockdown than ever before. Perhaps you were one of them. After a lot of thought, we have decided to postpone this year’s award and start a brand-new chapter afresh in 2021. If you have submitted a story, you will already have heard from us – all submissions will be automatically carried over, and you are more than welcome to enter a new story if you wish. We’ll be back in January to officially declare the 2021 Style of Wight Children’s Writing Competition open. In the meantime, why not use the Christmas holidays to get a head start on your imaginings, test out new characters, or just get into the practice of free-writing. Sponsored by:
ROBIN MCINNES OBE For further details regarding sponsorship and prize donation opportunities please email office@styleofwight.co.uk.
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