ORGANISERS of a search to find the best young writers in Dorset say they have unearthed talent good enough to rival adults in the world famous Bridport Prize competition.

Funding from the Arts Council led to the revival of the Bridport Prize Junior for 2007 with 250 youngsters vying to win. The short story competition was open to all children aged from eight to 18 in Dorset.

The category for 15 to 18-year-olds was won by former Sir John Colfox pupil Rosa Van Hensbergen, who now attends Colyton Grammar School, with her story Today is Winter. Colfox pupil Joe Nava came second.

The 11 to 14 years group was won by Ethne Grey Still, of Beaminster School, with her story Tumbleweeds and Tuberoses.

Among the runners up in the eight to 11 years category were Anya Loudon of Burton Bradstock School and Acacia Rose Rudd of Symondsbury School, while Simon Middleton of Colfox was a runner up in the 15 to 18 age group.

The competition was organised by Dorset County Council in partnership with the Bridport Prize and Bridport Arts Centre with the aim of encouraging young people to explore creative writing.

Josie Hickin, literature development officer at Dorset County Council, said: "They all wrote some incredible stories and the quality of work was really high, especially some of the older students who could easily take on some of the entries in the adult competition."

Miss Hickin added: "The whole thing was done in the same way as the adult competition and was completely anonymous so the judge didn't know where they were from or if they were a boy or girl. They could write on any subject.

"Children and young people have some amazing ingenuity and we didn't want to rein that in."

Topics included demons, fantasy, a devil with a liking for hamburgers, a detective searching for a lost parrot, relationships and period stories. One youngster even chose to have their story narrated by a monkey.

Miss Hickin said: "The funding only covered this year and we have got to think next about whether we can continue it, but it has been a great success."

The competition was judged by Bridport-based children's author Laura Matthews, who writes as LS Matthews.

The three winners each won £100 plus a day with writer Brenda Read-Brown for their school.

There were also cash prizes for the runners up with all the youngsters seeing their story published in the Bridport Prize Junior book.

A prize giving ceremony was held at Bridport Arts Centre.

  • Copies of the Bridport Prize Junior anthology are available from Bridport Arts Centre, cost £7.50.