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My Suffolk Story winners announced

Suffolk Libraries, the charity which runs the county’s library service has revealed the winners of its 'My Suffolk Story' children's writing competition.

Suffolk Libraries received a fantastic response to the children’s writing competition run as part of the Festival of Suffolk and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Over 500 entries were received from schools and children of all ages across the county. ‘My Suffolk Story’ used the themes of Suffolk and the environment to inspire children, with a prompt of ‘What do you love about the outdoors in Suffolk?’

The entries showcased the amazing talent and imagination of children across Suffolk with some children choosing to create comic strips for their entry or adding illustrations. Many entries featured the beautiful Suffolk coast but covered well known places from across the diverse Suffolk landscape.

A judging panel has now selected a winner and two runners up in each of the three age groups:

Aiden from Trimley St Mary Primary School won the 5-7 age group with his entry ‘My Suffolk Story’ which was a lovely, descriptive story about experiencing a day at the beach.

Eva-Grace from Colneis Junior School won the 8-10 category with ‘Sweet Suffolk’ - The adventures of a strawberry ice-cream named Suffolk Sally! Sweet Suffolk featured a colourful, bright storyboard which follows the life cycle of a Strawberry swirl ice-cream exploring Suffolk from 1923 until it eventually melts in 2022.

Kirsty won the 11-14 category with her story ‘Suffolk Outdoors!’ which describes a day out with her family in a forest within Suffolk - and a realisation of the importance of appreciating the Suffolk wildlife with friends and family in a technology-focused society.

Marium Miah has coordinated the My Suffolk Story competition for Suffolk Libraries. She said:

“We’re all thrilled with how successful the competition has been with so many children and schools getting behind it. It’s wonderful to see that so many children appreciate our countryside, heritage and the natural world around us. It was very tricky choosing the winners as the entries showed such creativity and imagination, so we’d like to thank everyone who took part.”

The runners up in each category were:

5-7

  • Sophie, with Roly the Dachshund - An exciting story about Sophie’s dog, Roly the Dachshund - experiencing a week in Suffolk.

  • Jessica from Ipswich with ‘My Suffolk Story’ - a descriptive, colourful story about all her favourite places in Suffolk.

8-10

  • Poppy’s story Oak. A story about a little girl that plants an oak tree. The story is written from the tree's perspective and describes watching the little girl grow up and have her own children and grandchildren to eventually the tree being pulled down. 

  • Lucas from Felixstowe with ‘The best parts of Suffolk’. A descriptive story about an imaginary trip around his favourite spots in Suffolk.

11-14

  • Izzy from Occold Primary School with ‘My Nanny's Garden’. This was a beautiful, colourful description of all the elements in Izzy’s nanny's garden in order of rainbow colours. 

  • Jessica’s entry ‘The Lost Village’ is an adventurous fiction story about sharing an adventure with her dog along the Suffolk coast where they encounter a mysterious church.

The judging panel were as follows:

  • Amber Spalding - an avid reader and writer, currently studying for a Masters in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of Suffolk.

  • Meg Rosoff – an award-winning Suffolk-based author.

  • Sophie Green – Suffolk Libraries’ children’s librarian and also a published children’s author.

  • Sophia – Suffolk Libraries' new Youth Ambassador. 

The three overall winners have won a tablet, with the first runner up receiving a £50 book token and the second runner up receiving a book token worth £25 for each age category.

'My Nanny's Garden', submitted by Izzy.
'Sweet Suffolk', submitted by Eva-Grace.