Current New College Pontefract student, Mia Lofthouse, 17 from Castleford, has been shortlisted for the Wicked Young Writers award. The award, now in its 8th year, is a chance for young people aged between 5 and 25, to get creative and write about anything they choose. There were over 4500 entries, competing in 6 age categories. The finalists will be attending a ceremony in London where the winner will be selected by ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ author, Cressida Cowell, and their story read aloud on stage by the cast of Wicked, the Musical.
Speaking about the competition, Mia said, “I have told and written stories since being very small. For the last four years I have been working on a novel, the first of a trilogy. I stumbled open the writing competition on the Internet. I’d never really entered one before but I liked the fact that with the Wicked Young Writers award I had the opportunity to write anything, on any subject, as long as it fell under 750 words. I rarely give myself the opportunity to write about things unrelated to my book, as, I have said, the sheer size of it and my passion for it takes up a lot of my time. I never imagined I would get this far and it has given me a real boost with my writing. There will only be one winner per category who will be revealed on the 21st June at the ceremony, but I think just being a finalist and attending the ceremony and meeting Cressida will be a brilliant experience. I urge any young writers to have a go at things like this and get their voice heard, for fiction has and always will be an essential part of life for many people.
Lucy Reynolds, Learning Leader for English at the college said, “Mia has always been an enthusiastic English student and obviously has a real flair for writing. Because I knew she wanted to go on to study creative writing, I have encouraged her to enter competitions and join writing groups, and her talent has resulted in her becoming a finalist in this fantastic competition. I am so proud of her and really do feel like she has a wonderful writing career ahead of her.”
You can find out more about the award at – www.wickedyoungwriterawards.com
