Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Writing achievement delights young Anna
Wartime short story gains finalist place in competition
A Coatbridge schoolgirl has written her own success story after being shortlisted as a finalist in a national competition.
Ten-year-old Anna Porteous is one of 20 nominees in her agegroup category at the Wicked young writer awards, and will travel to London next week for an awards ceremony at the Apollo Victoria theatre, where the West End musical is performed.
Her shortlisted entry is entitled The Last Letter? – and is written from a sister serving on a wartime front line to her brother back home, outlining her experiences.
The primar y six pupil developed the unique idea after being inspired by one of the recent topics being studied by her class at St Timothy’s Primary.
Proud mum Karen Ann McGinn said: “We were delighted and couldn’t believe it when we got the email saying she’d been picked as a finalist, from 4000 entrants across all the age categories.
“Anna just loves writing; it’s always been her thing and she just writes so many stories all the time.
“She reads all the time and really loves the Harry Potter series, which is her favourite. We’ve both always loved books and shared reading time together, discussing books and doing things like going to the Harry Potter movies and exhibition to add to the experience.
“It’s always been her dream to have her name in print and she’s been saying since she was five that she wants to be a writer.
“She’s so excited to have made the final and the whole family is extremely proud of her achievement; she’s looking forward to our trip to London and meeting so many other children who love writing as much as she does.”
Anna – who was also successfully shortlisted in the Advertiser’s own Short Story Stars awards in both 2015 and 2016 – entered the Wicked contest after mum Karen Ann had spotted the entry details on Twitter.
Now she is preparing to travel to London at the end of the month with Karen Ann and her grandparents, Michael and Linda McGinn, for the awards ceremony led by head judge Cressida Cowell, the author of the How To Train Your Dragon series, plus former shadow chancellor Ed Balls and ITV News journalist Nina Nannar.
Winners will receive book tokens and tickets plus a backstage tour for the London production of Wicked, plus £100 of books and a bespoke Wicked workshop for their school; and all of the shortlisted finalists will receive an anthology featuring their work.
Karen Ann added: “She’s really excited to meet Cressida Cowell, which she keeps talking about, and to go to London for the awards and to see her work in the anthology.
“She’s always had good feedback on her writing, especially from her teachers who have been very encouraging – but to be published at this age is a huge achievement.”