Holly Smith, first year student of Lochgilphead High School, was selected out of 74,000 entries to take part in the next stage of the Chris Evans’ 500 Word Short Story competition.
The nationwide competition held by the Radio 2 breakfast show was open to any pupil under the age of 14 that could invent an imaginative storyline. Holly came up with the concept of her story whilst doing a class exercise in English, and her piece was specially chosen to be included in the shortlist of the top 50 entrants.
Holly said “The best way to describe my story is it’s about the sea, but from the sea’s point of view.” As the only pupil from LHS to be selected to continue in the process, Holly visited Hay on Wye, in Wales, earlier in May with her family. There, she attended the literary festival; she got the opportunity to watch inspiring presentations made by a group of famous authors as well as meeting her fellow competitors and being able to compare their pieces. With the overall prize of Chris Evans’ height in books, plus 500 books for your own school’s library at stake, there was certainly a high level of anticipation and anxiousness in the air, but Holly was reported to have had a great day.

When interviewed, Holly stated that she, “thoroughly enjoyed coming up with my short story concept, and I liked seeing it progress into a proper piece of writing.” She later went on to add that she was encouraged to write more and more through being nominated, saying, “I think I would like to pursue a career that is related to writing…” as she found meeting the professional authors “exciting and fun!”
Being judged by the likes of Richard Hammond and Jacqueline Wilson, Holly’s piece was analysed but unfortunately was up against some tough competition from her fellow writers, and just missed out on being placed in the top three for her age category. However, she had a fabulous experience and is said to have taken away with her some great tips to use in her future story writing. Well done Holly!
By Olivia Kerr and Ellie Donald