The winners of The Lowry’s first annual Creative Writing Challenge were presented by Manchester-based actor, writer and director Carla Henry, with performances by poet Tony Walsh.
The 16 shortlisted entries performed on the Quays stage at The Lowry, Salford.
Open to children aged 7–11 (Key Stage 2) from across Salford and Greater Manchester, the judges had the task of shortlisting from almost 400 entries in three categories: Script, Poetry and Short Story.
Winners and runners-up include in the Script category: (winner) Salome Samuel (age 10) for Freya’s Amazing Adventures and (runner-up) Ruby Lee (age 10) for Alien in Manchester. In the Poetry category: (winner) Layla Wood (age 11) with The Journey and (runner-up) Peter McColgan (age 10) for The Lonely Man. And in the Short Story category: (winner) Gabriela Kulacz (age 11) for In The Box and (runner-up) Maryam Akram (age 10) with Return To Kandahar.
A special Founders Prize was awarded by Beryl Jones to (winner) Hawa Chowdhury (age 9) for their piece The Adventure of The Oak Tree and (runner-up) Charlie Grieve (age 10) for The Rivers Adventure.
Shortlisted children and runners-up each received a certificate and book token, with winners also receiving an original illustration created by artist and illustrator Catherine Booth.
Other shortlisted entries who performed on the night included: Maariyah Ahmad (age 10), William Maher (age 11), Eve Bennet-Mould (age 10), Andaz Amin (age 11), Éowyn McDonald (age 9), Isla Hickey (age 11), Kaio Devine Dos Santos (age 7) and Rosanna De Martiis (age 9).