A talented teenage author from Uttoxeter has written her way to success, after being named the Junior winner of the Rotary Young Writer Competition 2023/24.
Orla Emmerson, a pupil at Staffordshire’s Denstone College, impressed judges with her inventive short story, Rebuilding, which follows a young boy called Ronny, who picks up scattered Lego pieces at a train station and creates a new figure during his journey.
This story perfectly matched the theme of this year’s Rotary Young Writer competition, ‘Rebuilding’, which is a central theme of Rotary’s community work across the globe.
Sponsored by Uttoxeter Rotary, Orla was one of three winners on the night, triumphing in the Intermediate category for young people aged 11-to-13.
The Rotary Young Writer competition encourages young people to be creative, hone their writing ability and connect with their imagination. On her path to victory, Orla demonstrated all these skills by triumphing in local heats and district finals, ahead of the national final.
This year’s final was judged by Charlotte Vaughan, manager at Kenilworth Book Shop, and prize-winning poet Chris Campbell, both of whom were blown away by the inventiveness of Orla’s writing.
Terry Davies at Rotary Uttoxeter said: “We’re very proud to have sponsored Orla’s journey at the Rotary Young Writer competition 2023/24. She’s an incredibly talented young person and well deserving of her win in the Intermediate category. We can’t wait to read what she writes next!”
Find out more about Rotary’s competitions and programmes for young people at www.rotarygbi.org.
