Dame Jacqueline Wilson led the prize giving ceremony at a public event in The Square, Shrewsbury on Saturday 4 May 2019.

It was testament to the quality and enthusiasm of the entries that drew such support from such a leading light of children’s literature.

Click here to listen to the winning stories…

From over 1500 entries, 8 top winners were selected in a Creative Writing Competition that one teacher, Simone Goward from Greenfields Primary School, describes as having

“had a remarkable impact on so many children with regard to a desire to write.”

The Creative Writing Competition was organised by Shrewsbury Bookfest and sought to give every child whose school had signed up to its Schools’ Week project, an opportunity to write their very own book.  With an eye on recognising the many young, talented and budding authors that lurk in every corner of the county, a winner was chosen from each of the 29 primary schools taking part.  The really difficult task was then to choose the top eight stories from these school winners.  Jane Payton – Trustee of Shrewsbury Bookfest and previously Head Teacher of St John’s Catholic Primary School, said;

“The judging was not an easy task. Every child that entered showed tremendous creativity. The quality of writing and presentation of the entries was amazing. All the books were a pleasure to read.”

Earlier in the Schools’ Week project, back in March, Shrewsbury Bookfest had brought leading experts in the world of children’s literature to work with the pupils in their classrooms – giving them advice and tips on how to structure a story, ideas on where to look for inspiration and how to develop characters.  These workshops clearly had an instrumental effect in inspiring the pupils to push their creative writing skills to new, higher levels.  Molly Clarke of Wrockwardine Wood C/E Junior School remarked at the end of their author workshop:

“My class have been left with such enthusiasm and passion for their writing.”

The pupils then wrote their stories in blank books given to them by Shrewsbury Bookfest and were encouraged to decorate and design the books to make them look like the real, published tomes found on shelves in bookshops and libraries. Children were encouraged to research the mechanics of a book such as how and why a book displays a bar code, the publisher’s name, the use of indexes etc.

Ali McGowan, Schools’ Co-ordinator for Shrewsbury Bookfest says:

“This has been a unique and very special project, designed to give an opportunity for pupils’ writing to escape from their exercise books and become a real story to share with the world and feel incredibly proud of! 

The eight top winning stories have been narrated by presenters, newsreaders and reporters from BBC Radio Shropshire and produced as audio files.  These stories can now be listened to and shared with the wider public via the Shrewsbury Bookfest website.  Truly, these brilliant young writers can now call themselves published authors.