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2011 WINNERS OF HORSERACING WRITING AWARDS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE ANNOUNCEDThe 19th annual Wills Writing Awards, for creative writing (fact or fiction) around a horseracing theme by a young person resident in the UK or the Republic of Ireland, have attracted 118 entries. Of these, 57 were in the Under 26 category, 30 were in the Under 19 category, and 31 were in the Under 15 category. Of the six prize-winners, five were girls, representing a second successive year of female dominance. However, the winner of the principal, Under 26 Award was male. The Republic of Ireland again outperformed, by providing the Under 26 winner and two others on the shortlist, albeit not to the extent of last year (two winners, one runner-up and four others on the shortlist). The Under 26 winner is 23 year old Cathal Dennehy from Limerick, but currently resident in Dublin. He was runner-up for the 2009 Under 26 Awards and on the shortlist in 2010. Following a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University, he has recently obtained an MA in Film & Television Studies from the same establishment. He would like to work in the media. He receives £1,250 for his article, A Closed Book, about the nostalgic reminiscences of an unsuccessful bookmaker. The Under 26 runner-up is 21 year old Hannah Caddick from Worcester Park in South London. She is in her third year studying for a BA in English Literature at Cardiff University, having obtained straight As in her A Levels - Art, Critical Thinking, English Literature and Psychology - at Nonsuch High School for Girls in Sutton, Surrey. She receives £750 for her article, The Deed, a fictional account of the suffragette, Emily Davison, throwing herself under the King’s horse in the 1913 Derby. The Under 19 winner is 17 year old Megan Woodward from Cradley Heath in the West Midlands. She attends King Edward VI Sixth Form College in nearby Stourbridge, where she is studying for her ASs in Biology, Classical Civilisation, English Literature & Language, and History, having obtained six A* and three A grades in her GCSEs. She receives £500 for her article, Jockey Bread, about the pressures on a jockey’s wife. The Under 19 runner-up is 15 year old Caitlan Hill from Liverton, near Newton Abbot, in Devon. She is studying for 11 GCSEs at Newton Abbot College. She has had poetry published from past competitions and, after graduating, hopes to write and illustrate her own work. She receives £250 for her article, Shergar, a sensitive tale of Shergar’s theft and demise. The Under 15 winner is 12 year old Abbie Taylor from Ironville on the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire border. She is in her first year at nearby Swanwick Hall School and also attends an after-school literature study group at Ironville Primary School, which she left in July 2010. She receives £250 for her article, Out of Nowhere, a fantasy involving an emaciated retired racehorse. The Under 15 runner-up is 14 year old Dillon Leet from London, who attends St Paul’s Girls’ School in London, as did the Under 19 winner in 2010 and the Under 19 and Under 15 runners-up in 2009. She is studying for 11 GCSEs and has been a winner of short story competitions in and out of school. She receives £125 for her article, Running without Legs, a young child’s introduction to racing. A selection of winning articles will be published, in the next few weeks, in the Racing Post and The Irish Field. The Under 26 winner will also have the opportunity of work experience at the Racing Post. The judges were: Brough Scott (Chairman), three times Sports Feature Writer of the Year, Racing Writer of the Year in both 1977 and 2010, and a leading figure in three spheres of racing journalism- the national press, the trade press and broadcasting; David Ashforth, Racing Writer of the Year in both 1996 and 2008, who has recently retired as a senior writer and columnist at the Racing Post; Matthew Engel, who worked at The Guardian for almost 25 years (including as Washington Correspondent), edited 12 editions of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack and now has a column in the Financial Times; Sean Magee, a versatile racing author and journalist who has collaborated with several leading racing personalities, most recently with Mick Fitzgerald in The Cheltenham World of Jump Racing; and Catherine Wills, sister of Martin Wills, who is a DPhil Art Historian and a racehorse owner/breeder. Brough Scott stated “Judging the Martin Wills Awards is one of the highlights of my year. This time, once again, it shows the flame still burns”. The prize-winning entries can be read on the website clicking this link - http://www.willswritingawards.co.uk/winners_2011.asp. The shortlist totalled 24 (12 Under 26, six Under 19 and six Under 15), as follows: Under 26 Hannah Caddick - 21 - London
Clare Alexander - 16 - Glenrothes, Fife
Daniel Archer - 14 - Epsom, Surrey |
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