NSW students dominate short story prize

The state took first prize in two of four age categories from a record field of 4600 entries. Ava Prettejohn, 10, claimed victory in the years 3-4 category and hails from a farm in Bywong, NSW, travelling over the border to year 4 at Canberra Girls’ Grammar. Ava combined her love of penguins and prose to claim victory. Her tale of an emperor chick overcoming an imperfect wing to “fly” through water impressed judges with “a beautifully set scene … and the realistic vision of being another creature.”“You can do anything if you have an open mind,” Ava said.Jumping on the trampoline helps Ava mull over creative ideas and she names Jackie French AM as her favourite author. “When my mum told me Jackie French judged the competition, I was like ‘Oh my gosh!’ – I found that really cool,” she said.Turrella’s Sadie Quinn, 11, a year 5 student at Wilkins Public School, charmed judges in the years 5-6 category with her story Flourish, about an older sibling whose vegie patch helps sprout a little tenderness toward an annoying little sister. After calling her sister “crybaby”, the protagonist is dismissed by a boy at school with the same insult.“The girl was realising her mistake by having it happen to her,” Sadie said. “She didn’t really understand how powerful her words were until she had that experience as well.”The judges praised Flourish as “a tale about how that empathy can grow.”Big sister to Olive, 9, Sadie said their backyard garden inspired her – rather than sisterly skirmishes – and that she was “super excited” to win. “At first I didn’t really believe it,” she said. “I was very happy … I really enjoy writing (and) I would really like to be a writer when I’m older.”For her part, returning judge French declared this year’s winning entries “truly superb.”“I am totally blown away by the quality of the entries, their grasp of narrative and most of all the originality,” she said. “They may have been written by young people, but they are enchanting for any age.” HarperCollins children’s publisher and fellow judge Lisa Berryman said she was “amazed and impressed”.“There is no doubt genuine writing talent abounds in our schools,” she said.Read the winning stories at kidsnews.com.au