With Kingston University, Wimbledon Books and the literacy agency David Higham Associates, during the Summer Term Kingston College delivered South West Writes, a creative writing competition for schools in South West London. Six schools participated with over 100 students.
The eventual winner was revealed on Thursday 4 July. Year 10 students were joined by award winning author Kiran Millwood Hargrave who spoke about her writing journey, habits and offered some invaluable advice about how writers can eventually get published. The overall winner was Florence Lavercombe from Grey Court School with her piece, Amongst the Deer.
Florence will receive personal feedback from an agent from David Higham Associates, £40 in vouchers from Wimbledon Books and a copy of Anthony Anaxagorou’s How to Write It.
Florence said:
"Thank you so much for creating a competition for me to focus on my writing and share my work. The prize is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I cannot wait to have. Thank you."
Yasmin Laws, KS3 and KS4 English Coordinator at Grey Court, added:
"This was such a fantastic opportunity for our students to be brave and vulnerable. I'm so proud of all the students who put their work out there for critique and very thankful to Richard and the Kingston College team for giving them this opportunity."
Maddalena Cavaciuti, agent from David Higham Associates, said of Florence’s piece:
"I found Amongst the Deer to be a skilfully told and intriguing story. What stood out to me was the attention to small details in the descriptions and the clever way in which the writer signals to the reader that there is a bigger story to be told around what is written on the page. From our anonymous main characters and the quiet, fierce friendship they strike up, to the well-painted setting and the eerie, uncertain final moment where the boy locks eyes with the fox, I thought the author did an excellent job of drawing the reader in and confidently guiding them through an original and engaging narrative."
You can read Florence's winning entry, Amongst the Deer here.
