Scholastic Book Fairs Young Author of the Year announced
Scholastic Book Fairs is celebrating its 21st anniversary in the UK. The year has reached its culmination with the announcement of the first We Are Writers Young Author of the Year, chosen by best-selling and award-winning author Francesca Simon.
Scholastic Book Fairs launched the We Are Writers writing competition to find the brightest young authors in the UK.
Using We Are Writers, the unique and inspirational literacy project from Scholastic Book Fairs, over 19,000 children from schools across the country wrote their own stories, poems, letters, diary entries, observations and recipes.
Schools were then able to turn these mini-masterpieces into more than 100 extraordinary books – all with children as the authors.
With a little help from Horrid Henry, and his creator, Francesca Simon, the best piece of writing from each and every We Are Writers book was chosen and collected into a unique Scholastic Yearbook – a showcase for the UK’s best young writing talent.
Scholastic Book Fairs is delighted to announce the winner of the We Are Writers Young Author of the Year as Tyra-Faith, from Hackney, with her poem, ‘I’m Fresh Like the Beat’.
As the overall winner Tyra-Faith wins a rare school visit from Francesca Simon, accompanied by Horrid Henry himself, a certificate and set of Horrid Henry books signed by the author, £100 worth of children’s books and copies of the Scholastic Yearbook.
Francesca Simon says: “I get so many lovely stories from children, and it’s wonderful to know that thanks to We Are Writers they will have a chance to see their work in print too. I was honoured to judge the children’s stories and what an impressive collection of finalists they were! After a great deal of thought, I finally decided the winner was Tyra-Faith’s jaunty, rhythmic poem, which just got better every time I read it. Her clever word-play, repetitions, and striking opening “I’m fresh like the beat,” the novel idea of hearts loosening to the beat beat beat, won me over. Well done to everyone who participated, and many congratulations to Tyra-Faith.”
Steve Thompson, MD of Scholastic Book Fairs, adds: “In this 21st anniversary of Scholastic Book Fairs, in which we have celebrated 21 years of getting children reading and giving 21 million free books to schools, we are delighted that this initiative has attracted so many entries. We are very proud that with the help of our special judge, Francesca Simon, the best piece of writing from each and every school’s We Are Writers book was chosen and collected into our Scholastic Yearbook – a showcase for the UK’s best young writing talent.”
Of the 19,000 young authors who participated, there were 104 finalists, all of whom receive a copy of the Scholastic Yearbook containing their shortlisted story as a keepsake. Five runners-up will also receive a certificate and a Horrid Henry book signed by Francesca Simon.
For further information, please contact Corinne Gotch, Group PR on 020 7756 7769, cgotch@scholastic.co.uk