Young Wild Writer Competition 2022

 A huge thank you to all the brilliant young writers who entered the Hen Harrier Action 2022 competition. The theme this year was Animal Journeys, and we had many wonderful entries, from ants to peregrines and snakes and swallows. The standard of writing was very high and it’s fantastic to see these writers of the future emerging with such confident voices.


As ever it was hard to judge, but three winners emerged in each category:

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Young Category: 5-8 years old
 
Winner - Sky Kwok – Age 8 
 
Swallow’s Journey Above the Earth
 
The judges loved Sky’s acrostic poem. There is the simplicity of observation and wonder within the rhythm of the words. It made the judges want to stop and look up and consider the swallows’ journeys.

Junior Category: 9-12 years

Winner – Henry Gill - Age 11

We Run

The judges loved Henry’s piece of writing about wolves. Henry effectively uses all the wolfs’ senses to help us imagine what it is to be a wolf and understand the threats they face from humans. The short sentence structure built the tension, as we ran with the wolves, stopping and listening, stopping and watching.


Writing that helps us build empathy with animals helps to change the narrative around
animals, especially those, like wolves, that have been demonised in literature.

Senior Category: 13-16 years
 
Winner Emily Hunt – Age 15
 
To the Roost
 
The judges were incredibly impressed with Emily’s lyrical piece of writing about Jackdaws. Corvids are often demonised, and many seen as vermin. But Emily’s prose helps us to see the world from the jackdaw’s perspective – a real bird’s eye view. We feel we are an individual jackdaw as well as part of the flock. The writing achieved a sense of movement, of being swept along on the rollercoaster ride of the swoops and turns and the ‘rotating mandala’ of flight. The writing explores the theme of journey through the life of a jackdaw and also their physical journey; ‘learn navigation by hawthorn and ash, the slight twists of the book.’

Hen Harrier Action was delighted that Emily could join us at the Wild Justice Hen Harrier Fest on the 24th August, and read her prose on the stage – to great applause.

Emily is certainly a writer to watch for the future. You can find more about her, and her writing here – Twitter @em_nature. And blog https://emilyjanehunt.wixsite.com/natureblog

Working with:

 
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Hen Harrier Action is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC049943.

Registered Charity SC049903