Meet the incredible winners of our teenage writing competition

A tale of reverse birdwatching, a mantra for a past self and a paean to Percy Pig all tickled the judges of our Teenage Creative Writing Competition. By Boudicca Fox-Leonard

Thank you. We asked for your tales of lockdown and your response has been profound. More than 600 teenage writers submitted their poems, letters and short stories, pouring thoughts, feelings, adjectives and imaginative metaphors into every line that will form a vast and vital record of the past 12 months from a generation’s perspective.

From an astonishing 634 entries from all over the United Kingdom to our Teenage Creative Writing Competition, we are proud to announce our winner and two runners-up.

Our judges, best-selling author, Charlie Higson, and Telegraph writers Sophia Money-Coutts and Bryony Gordon, chose Anna Gilmore Heezen as the overall winner, and Oskar Leonard and Alice Cunningham as runnersup. The final three entries were chosen for their strong and clear voices – and, says Higson, because they “all ended on a positive note and didn’t just wallow in despair”.

In first place is 17-year-old Anna’s tale of reverse birdwatching. MoneyCoutts praised the teenager from Perth and Kinross for her original idea, as well as its sense of humour.

“As we’ve all learned in the past year, maintaining a sense of humour in a pandemic is no easy feat. But Anna’s done it with this piece, which made me laugh, as well as touching me with its poignancy,” she says.

It was the neat structure and ability to pack a lot of information into a short number of words that made 17-yearold Oskar’s letter shine for Higson.

“I really got a glimpse into a full life and I like the fact that the poem led somewhere and ended with a message of hope,” he says.

Our second runner-up is 18-year-old Alice from Newcastle, whose paean to Percy Pig sweets was applauded for its celebration of the simple things in life communicated with humour and honesty. “It’s written in a characterful voice in the language teenagers use, rather than in an attempt at ‘literary’ style,” points out Higson.

The news was broken to the chosen three via email from Money-Coutts, with Anna saying: “I think I scared all the birds out of the trees with my squeal of happiness when I read the email.

“Like most people I’ve spent a lot of this time staring out the window and one day I wondered what do the birds think of all this? I thought that would be a fun thing to explore, but I never expected to make the shortlist,” says the teenager, who has a place to study English literature at St Andrews.

Oskar was similarly shocked, despite saying his love of writing is so strong that, “I’ve been writing since I was taught to… It’s nice to know someone liked your work.” He, too, plans to study English literature at university and is currently considering his offers.

Alice, who is on a gap year before starting an English and creative writing degree at the University of East Anglia, agrees: “I’ve only just started sharing the writing I do, so it’s been a big confidence boost to receive such positive feedback.”

Our nine other finalists were: Stephane H Duponcheele, 14; Anisha Jaya Minocha, 18; Romilly L Bates, 17; Max Ingram, 13; Georgia Campbell, 16; Hanna-Rose Sullivan, 16; Holly Mia Edwards, 18; Tatum Dulabh, 17; Emily Barron, 18.

“It was wonderful to read all 12 finalists’ entries and have an insight into how they have felt during the past year,” says Gordon. “I was amazed by the quality of the writing, and I suspect that I might have just read a future Booker Prize winner!”

So we’d all like to thank you for your entries, and urge you to keep writing. “If this gave you any sort of escape, even for a few minutes, then I’d urge you to carry on with writing,” says Money-Coutts. “Because the catharsis it can provide is one of the best things about it.”