The Usborne Young Writer's Award 2009

Home

Congratulations to the winners of the Usborne Young Writers' Award 2009! For the competition, five of our best-loved authors started stories - and the young writers finished them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The winners

Ann Bryant's story starter:
Anna Hawkes-Cumming, age 10 from Edinburgh

Leila Rasheed's story starter:
Zackary Faulkner, age 8 from Dorset

Sue Mongredien's story starter:
Toby Smith, age 8 from Bradford

Malcolm Rose's story starter:
Isaac Robinson, age 11 from Cheshire

Graham Marks' story starter:
Anita Jiang, age 15* from Cambridgeshire
*Anita was 14 when the competition closed, as required by the rules.

Read the winning stories.

The authors

Find out more about each of the authors and read their tips on the writing tips page.

Great prizes

The five winning entries will each win:

• A trip to Usborne House in London to meet all 5 authors and find out how a book is made.
• £100 worth of FREE Usborne books.
• An author event at your school with the author who started your story.
• A year’s FREE subscription to Young Writer magazine.
• A year’s FREE subscription to readingzone.com.

Supporters

BBC Newsreader Emily Maitlis

"There are few better feelings in the world than being immersed in a fantastic book - story telling is such an amazing art and one I appreciate more and more the older I get.

I am delighted if this award encourages children to have a go themselves - for the sheer pleasure it will bring, and for the discovery, perhaps, of hidden talents.

I can't wait to read the pieces myself and wish the participants courage and inspiration."

Other supporters

We would like to thank all of the supporters of The Usborne Young Writers' Award:

Story starters

Here's a taster of each author's story starter.

To enter the competition, choose a story starter, then complete the story in no more than 1000 words (excluding the story starter).

To view or print out a complete story starter, click on the links.

Malcolm Rose

"It all started on the 5th May, 2005. I was ten years old and the storm spoiled my birthday party. I remember the wind was incredible... The first murder happened exactly one year later..."

Download Malcolm Rose's story starter.

Ann Bryant

"'Removal van!' announced Dad, peering out of the front window. 'Shush!' Mum interrupted. 'The Jacksons said they'd sold the house to a really nice person.' But that was a week ago and we still haven't seen her..."

Download Ann Bryant's story starter.

Leila Rasheed

"Have you ever heard the story of the boy who climbed a tree and didn’t come down? It happened five years ago, at our school. No-one knows why he went up there in the first place."

Download Leila Rasheed's story starter.

Graham Marks

"This little piggy sat right at the front. This little piggy is not one of us. So what’s going to happen to this little piggy on the way home?"

Download Graham Marks' story starter.

Sue Mongredien

"Lily stopped dead when she first saw it. She’d been pounding through the wood, hunting for a hiding place, when suddenly the trees thinned out, and there it was: an old stone house..."

Download Sue Mongredien's story starter.

Writing tips

The authors have each come up with some top tips that may help as you write your story.

Malcolm Rose

Malcolm is a full-time writer best known for his gripping scientific thrillers. His book Kiss of Death was selected for Booked Up in 2008 and he has also written Forbidden Island and The Tortured Wood.

Malcolm's top tip:

"Choose a theme that's close to your heart; if it's interesting to you as a writer, you might excite the reader as well."

Download Malcolm's full list of tips or watch his video.

Ann Bryant

Ann is a well-established author of books for girls and her series have a loyal following. She is best known for the popular School Friends series and Ballerina Dreams.

Ann's top tip:

"Remember your view of the world is totally unique. Don't try too hard to be original, it will happen by itself when you write."

Download Ann's full list of tips or watch her video.

Leila Rasheed

Leila has had an eventful life, having survived an earthquake, house fire and being bombed all before the age of 11. She now works as a children's bookseller and is well known for her delightful diaries of Bathsheba Clarice de Trop.

Leila's top tip:

It's okay to make mistakes. Even famous writers make mistakes. You can always go back and change your story later to make it better.

Download Leila's full list of tips or watch her video.

Graham Marks

Graham Marks had his first collection of poetry published while he was at art school. He now works as a journalist and author and has written everything from comic strips and film tie-ins to advertising copy and novels. He has had several books published with Usborne including I Spy, Kaï-ro and Snatched!.

Graham's top tip:

It's a good idea to have a plan (even if it's only a really rough idea) of what you want to write and where it's going to go; this will give you confidence.

Download Graham's full list of tips or watch his video.

Sue Mongredien

Sue started out working as an editor of children's books before leaving to travel around the world. She now has over 60 books published, including the magical underwater Secret Mermaid series and Oliver Moon, Junior Wizard.

Sue's top tip:

Don't become bogged down with a lengthy introduction to your story – get into the action as quickly as you can.

Download Sue's full list of tips or watch her video.

Winners' stories

Click on the links to read the winning stories from Anna, Zackary, Anita, Toby and Isaac.

• Ann Bryant and Anna Hawkes-Cumming's story

“What a fab story - a lovely mix of imaginative fantasy and well observed reality. Pacing a short story is so tricky but Anna got it just right. Clever girl!” – Ann Bryant

• Leila Rasheed and Zackary Faulkner's story

"Zackary Faulkner’s Flight in Time is my winner. I particularly like the fact that he developed the ideas that were set up in the story starter: that there were ‘different stories’ running alongside each other and that the story is moving from one time to another." – Leila Rasheed

• Graham Marks and Anita Jiang's story

“I was really taken by the voices, the different points of view and the ‘slice of life’ feeling in Anita’s story – she’s a real talent.” – Graham Marks

• Sue Mongredien and Toby Smith's story

"I chose this story because it was really imaginative, well-written and packed full of great ideas and action. Well done, Toby!" – Sue Mongredien

• Malcolm Rose and Isaac Robinson's story
“Isaac introduced a twist that I was hoping for. It was the twist I would have used if I had written this story to a conclusion. High marks for originality! In his short offering, Isaac manages to convince with a character who is obsessive, self-centred, funny and ultimately quite mad. A well planned story and a spine-shiveringly good conclusion.”
– Malcolm Rose

 

We received thousands of brilliant entries for the Usborne Young Writers' Award 2009. If your story was not selected this year, why not enter next year's competition in 2010? We'll be posting information on this website soon...

 

Terms and conditions

It's important that you and your parents or guardian read the Usborne Young Writers' Award Terms and Conditions before submitting your story.