Year 10 student 'Highly Commended' in GDST competition
Year 10 student Sophie I was 'Highly Commended' in this year's overall GDST Creative Writing Prize for the Years 10 & 11 category.
Entrants had to write on the theme of 'Kindness'. The judge, Ewa Jozefkowicz (a children's author shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize) commented on Sophie's entry, saying: "Wow! What a wonderful idea for a short story. I love the idea of a wealthy Ancient Egyptian woman finding the kindness in her soul to protect a peasant. Your writing was really emotive. I could feel the heat on my skin and visualise the sandstorm. This is really powerful writing!"
Ewa also said of the overall GDST winners: "I hugely enjoyed judging these entries on the theme of kindness, and was impressed by the variety of genres and interpretations of the subject. I was blown away by the emotion in many of the pieces, and the level of writing was far beyond the age-range of the writers. I would encourage all entrants to work further on these pieces – perhaps developing them into short stories. The idea for my first published book actually came to me during a creative writing lesson at Notting Hill and Ealing High School. So it's never too early to start!"
The student selected as the Putney entrant for the Years 7, 8 & 9 category was Hannah L, and the student selected for Years 12 & 13 was Isobel PJ. The English Department was impressed by the quality of the writing.
Sophie I's piece can be read here:
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