A celebration of words and writing, the annual Lighthouse Young Writers Showcase saw three age groups share new stories and poems with each other as well as friends and family in the audience.
The popular writing workshops cover three age groups – Junior Writers (7-11) and Young Writers (11-14 and 15-18) – with the Juniors sharing pieces with each other and the two Young Writers groups combined in a separate session.
“It was really successful and a great way to end the term,” says Rohan Gotobed, lead facilitator for Lighthouse Young Writers, which is delivered with ArtfulScribe writer development agency.
“All the writers benefit from reading their writing alongside others. Regardless of their age you can see how well they respond to other writers’ and enjoy the reactions to their own stories.”
The audiences heard short stories as well as poetry across two sessions in the Sherling Studio at Lighthouse. This year’s showcase also included the first Young Writers Creative Writing Competition judged by local authors Georgie Codd (Never Had a Dad, William Collins) and Steve Couch (Foul and Fair, The Book Guild) as well as poet Yasmin Bromby-Phillips.
The Junior Writers’ prize went to Mayra Shah for her story The Keyhole; and Maya Samarasinghe was awarded the Judges’ Prize for her story Edith the Intelligent. The Young Writers’ (11-14) prize went to Olive Goodwin for her poem Time; with Emma Bodo and Betsy Wragg sharing the Young Writers’ (15-18) prize for the story There Is A Light That Never Goes Out and poems hear no evil/see no evil/speak no evil respectively. All received book vouchers from ArtfulScribe.
Interest is welcome for the autumn intake of Lighthouse Young Writers with workshops beginning on Saturday 13 September. Sessions are free but Lighthouse and ArtfulScribe expect regular attendance. All workshops are suitable for beginners and advanced writers.
More information at https://www.lighthousepoole.co.uk/programme/young-writers/ or email learning@lighthousepoole.
All photos by Dorset Morri’arty
(NC)
