HENRIETTA BRANFORD WRITING COMPETITION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Philip Pullman presents prizes to six young winners on 9 July 2008
 

The six winners of this year’s Henrietta Branford Writing Competition were announced on the 9th July. Philip Pullman congratulated each of the winners and gave them their prizes at a ceremony held at Walker Books in London.

The six winners are:

• Naomi Latham, age 14, Sutton Coldfield
• Lily Hawker-Yates, age 16, Stockport
• Thomas Goulding, age 11, Chester-le-Street, Co. Durham
• Matthew Lee, age 16, Wakefield
• Martha Eadie, age 13, Bishops Stortford
• Heather Milton, age 13, Hereford

The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition is an annual competition for young people which runs in conjunction with the prestigious Branford Boase Award for debut children’s fiction which was set up in memory of the outstanding children’s writer Henrietta Branford and the gifted editor, Wendy Boase, Editorial Director of Walker Books. They worked together on a number of books, a partnership they greatly enjoyed. They both died of cancer in 1999. Henrietta Branford felt that a children’s writing competition was an important way to find and encourage the writers of the future. This year there have been over 600 entries from all over the country, often thanks to the encouragement of teachers and school librarians. Kate Jones of Young Writer magazine judged the stories.

The competition is open to any young writer under the age of 19. Six winners are invited to the celebration party in London at which the Branford Boase Award is given. There they can meet authors, editors, publishers, agents, and other professionals in this field. Entrants must complete a story begun by the previous year’s winner.

Full details can be found on the Branford Boase Award website:

www.branfordboaseaward.org.uk

For more details, or to arrange interviews, please contact

Mary Byrne on 0207 729 6359 or 07971 378 411 or email: mary.byrne@virgin.net or Anne Marley on anne.marley@tiscali.co.uk. Website: www.branfordboaseaward.org.uk

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