Young Author Attracts Acclaim
- Wednesday, 10 October 2007
- Short StoriesMedia
LAUREN Shannon's flair for writing has helped her win a national short story and poetry competition that more than 11,000 students entered.
The St Ursula's College grade 10 student was told she had won the Write4fun competition last week for her short story called Snow Angel.
"I'm very excited; this is the first time I've really written seriously. It's (the story) about a girl called Bec who is with this group of friends and she feels like she doesn't belong. But then she goes along with the group anyway and sees the bad consequences," she said.
Nicola Dufficy is Lauren's drama teacher and said her short story was originally a monologue she had written for her drama class.
"We were looking at stepping into the shoes of other boys and girls their age and the pressures on them and the decisions they have to make in their lives," Miss Dufficy said.
"Especially with them being in grade 10 moving into grade 11."
Lauren's winning entry will be published at the front of a book entitled "Too Cool" which contains about 2000 stories and poems from the competition.
Miss Dufficy said she loved reading Lauren's monologue.
"I loved it - she got an A+ for it. We're very proud of her, she's done very well," she said.
Lauren has won $500 for herself, $500 for the school, an Apple iPod Nano, a special plaque and a copy of the "Too Cool" book when it is published later this year.
Lauren said she was excited about being a published author and was currently writing her author's profile for the book.
"It's very exciting, especially because I'm so young," she said.
Lauren said she loved media, drama and English subjects and the win had inspired her to write more.
Published: 10/10/2007
Source: The Chronicle