A winning tale of disaster

The best young writers in Dundee were honoured at a special ceremony last night, with the top award going to Emily Baxter of Dundee High School. The city’s annual Burgess Short Story Competition aims to identify talented teenage short story authors. Launched in 2013, it is open to third year pupils from Dundee high schools.

Judges awarded Emily Baxter, 14, of Dundee High School, the coveted trophy for her short story which combines murder mystery with the Tay Bridge disaster.

Emily said: “I wanted to do a disaster story and the one which immediately came to me was the bridge disaster.

“I always like a bit of drama in my stories. I don’t actually read all that much, but I like drama and crime stories.” Her win, she said, “is all a bit surreal.”

Depute Lord Provost Christina Roberts, who attended the event, said: “The standards were absolutely brilliant, they’re so high this year.

“I was here last year for the same competition and the standards are absolutely amazing.

“We’ve got some fantastic kids here in Dundee, and allowing for the fact they’re only in S3, their stories are very, very professional.

“Writing a story and having it in your head is one thing, but actually telling the story is totally different. We’ve got a wealth of talented children in Dundee.”

Callie Hay, of St Paul’s Academy, and Jessica Mannion, St John’s RC High School, were runners-up. Lena Macaulay, of St John’s, Melissa McCafferty, from Grove Academy, and Carmen Thomson, of Grove Academy, were highly commended contributors.

This year’s Burgess Short Story Competition winner is Emily Baxter of Dundee High School.