The Annual PGS Library Writing Competition

The Annual PGS Library Writing Competition ‘Fly Into Fantasy’

In the autumn term there was a new arrival in the Main Library; a dragon took up roost. It became the inspiration for our annual competition. Given the difficult and unpredictable realities experienced this year, the Library team decided on a story theme of fantasy. ‘Fly Into Fantasy’ invited pupils to use their imagination to create new worlds and characters far removed from the world of COVID-19 and lockdown life.

Middle School Winner: Cecilia Cameron

There were many wonderful entries: a wise but decrepit old dragon living under the school, a deadly monster preying on summer camps and an entrapped dragon who lived life as a laboratory specimen. Through the medium of fantasy all of the entries including the winning stories reflected their writers’ experience of life during a pandemic and in lockdown; be that in the setting of a trapped and confined life or in the ever looming danger of a monster who could take anyone at any time. “The light was daylight! No one had seen daylight for generations and there were only myths about its beauty. It was said to come from a large blazing ball of fire, millions of kilometres away. I didn't even know how the light reached this new world but it did and it was glorious.

I pushed the metal wiring covering the entrance away and climbed the ladder. Suddenly, I was in a large room, with golden light streaming through large sheets of clear material, surrounded by books. Hundreds of books. Every wall was covered from floor to ceiling in leather-coated books of all different sizes. Different sections held different types of books (I didn't even know there were different types of books!). From fantasy and adventure to spells and potions and even science books. They were perfectly placed and in alphabetical order. I was in heaven!

Below are extracts from the two winning stories and a comment from the judges. If you would like to read them in full they are on the Portsmouth Point blog and available in the Library. When I was told there was treasure, I was thinking of gold and riches, but this was better than anything I had (and probably ever will)