WICKED Launches 8th Year of its Prestigious Young Writer Awards at East London Primary School

WICKED, the award-winning West End musical that tells the incredible untold story of the witches of Oz, together with the National Literacy Trust, is proud to announce the eighth year of the prestigious Wicked YOUNG WRITER AWARDS. Entries open today, 27 October 2017, and close on 12 March 2018. Details can be found at www.WickedYoungWriterAwards.com

The launch of the Awards was announced at Leys Primary School in Dagenham, East London.

Leys Primary School was chosen to host the launch having won the prize for entering the highest number of submissions to the awards, 160 in total, and hosted a bespoke Wicked writing workshop with children's author Sam Gayton and the added surprise of a musical performance of The Wizard and I for the whole school by cast member Laura Pick, who announced the opening of 2018 competition.

The Headteacher of Leys Primary School, Grant Krog, commented: "Participating in the Wicked Young Writer Awards has been fun, engaging and an all-round positive experience for Leys Primary School. The children have enjoyed being part of a national competition which has seen their talents celebrated beyond the classroom and school community. They've learnt a lot about writing for a specific audience and from my discussions with many of them they are also keen to continue to write for pleasure."

One of the school's pupils, Maaz Qureshi, was a finalist in the 2017 Awards in the 5-7 age-category. When asked about being invited on stage during the award ceremony he said, "I was nervous but happy because my parents and school were proud."

Pam Gough, Literacy Standards and Progression Manager at Leys Primary School, commented, "The primary reason (for entering the Awards) was to give the pupils an opportunity to write for a real audience, together as a school. One child actually said it was good because it was going to be judged by somebody out of school."

Cressida Cowell, bestselling author of the How to Train Your Dragon books commented: 'My fellow judges and I read poems and stories addressing really big issues - mental illness, hope in adversity, kindness to strangers and the value of education. There was an incredible range of styles and an array of brilliantly original voices, but they all had this in common - they made us as judges feel something."

As in previous years, entrants can enter one of five different age categories; 5-7, 8-10, 11-14, 15-17, 18-25. In addition, the 2018 Awards see the third year of the FOR GOOD Award for Non-Fiction, encouraging 15-25 year olds to write essays or articles that recognise the positive impact that people can have on each other, their communities and the world we live in. The Wicked FOR GOOD programme supports the charitable causes at the heart of the stage musical.

The Awards were created by the producers of Wicked in 2010, in collaboration with Michael Morpurgo and the National Literacy Trust - to recognise excellence in writing, encourage creativity and develop writing talent in young people. Over 25,000 young people have entered the Awards since they began in 2010, with 2017 seeing the fastest growing level of entries to date. Over 600 primary and secondary schools and colleges entered last year's Awards from all over the UK with a particularly impressive rise in entries for the 8-10 and 18-25 categories.

Michael McCabe, Executive Producer (UK) of Wicked said, "All of us at Wicked are incredibly proud of this project and greatly indebted to Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cornwall; Cressida Cowell; the National Literacy Trust and our founding judge, Michael Morpurgo, for their support. Their passionate commitment to encouraging creative writing and improving literacy standards amongst young people in the UK is an inspiration to us all".

A shortlist of 120 entrants from across the UK will see their work published in the Wicked YOUNG WRITER AWARDS Anthology. They are also invited to an exclusive ceremony at London's Apollo Victoria, home to the hit musical since 2006, where judges and members of the Wicked cast will read the winning stories and poems and announce who has won in each category.

Previous winners include Charlotte Carter (Winner,15-17 Category, 2015) who said, "The support shown by everyone involved in the award is fantastic, I cannot thank them enough for the passion, the joy and the hope that they have inspired in me."

Adam Rafael Holmes (Winner 5 to 7 Category 2017) "I do a lot of writing at home but the Wicked Young Writers is the first competition I've ever entered. I heard the runner-up name and thought they had won. I didn't know what a runner-up was. Then I heard my name, I was quite excited and also quite scared!"

Claire Joicey, (Winner 18 to 25 category 2017) "My winning feels kind of illegal amongst all this talent! I sobbed at some of the stories written by the younger children, they were so beautiful. I've been writing a long time, but it's always been my own thing. I didn't tell anyone or share any of my stories until I was shortlisted for last year's Wicked Young Writer Awards. It's quite personal and frightening to have someone read something you've written. Winning a national competition like Wicked Young Writers gives you the confidence to know that other people like what you write. That's a really good feeling."

The Wicked YOUNG WRITER AWARDS raises money for the National Literacy Trust, who campaign to improve public understanding of the vital importance of literacy. Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust will be returning as part of the judging panel and the award continues to be kindly championed by its Patron, Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cornwall until 2020.

Pieces of original writing can be submitted, either individually or as part of a school group, until 12 March 2018. The overall winners from each category will win a VIP family experience to the West End production of Wicked, including an exclusive backstage tour and cast meet-and-greet, £50 book/eBook tokens, plus £100 worth of books for their school library donated by Hachette Children's Books. The individual school with the highest number of entries will receive a bespoke writing workshop at their respective school.

To post a comment, you must register and login.