Her powerful story ‘Special’, about a neurodiverse student who finds comfort in writing through the encouragement of her teacher – inspired by, Lulu says, the support of her own teachers at KEHS – can be listened to here. Lulu now looks back on her favourite moments of the competition process, and reflects on what gaining this award means to her.
Just before the summer holidays, I found out I had been shortlisted for the 2024 BBC Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University. The award was created 10 years ago for teenagers to submit stories of up to 1,000 words to a judging panel of writers and editors, with the top 5 shortlisted entrants’ stories recorded and produced for radio; over the summer, I had the very surreal experience of working with a voice actor and radio producer to record my own story, ‘Special’, for BBC Sounds.
In September, the 5 of us who were shortlisted for the Award were invited to Cambridge University, where we spent the day with an English tutor, writer and current undergraduate students taking part in a writing workshop and touring the University. Highlights of this day definitely include being led on a tour of the University Library and shown the Library’s rare book collection, which included a 2,000-year old papyrus extract of Homer’s Odyssey and a 1623 print of Shakespeare’s First Folio, as well as annotated first manuscripts from the likes of Wilson Harris.
A couple days later, we had the immense (and honestly still unbelievable) chance to tour BBC Broadcasting House in London and spend the day with radio producers and the Books Editor at BBC Audio. After a tour of Radio 1 and the studios where our stories and well-known radio dramas have been recorded, a writing workshop and dinner with a literary agent, it was time for the Awards ceremony, which was hosted live on Radio 4’s Front Row programme. After being announced as the winner of the YWA and giving a (pretty terrifying) live interview about my writing and the inspiration behind it, I had the incredible chance to meet the judges of the Award after the ceremony, as well as the winner and shortlisted entrants of the adults’ competition (BBC National Short Story Awards) and other people currently working in the publishing industry.
It’s been a completely surreal experience; I am so grateful for the opportunities that have come out of winning the competition and to the incredible people I’ve met through it, including the other shortlisted writers who came from all over the UK – we’re still in touch to share our work and support each other, which has been lovely. I’m definitely planning to continue writing, in whatever form and whenever I can, as I look ahead toward University and beyond. If you love creative writing too but have been nervous to share your work or enter similar competitions, I’d honestly just say take the leap and go for it – you can never predict the outcome, who you might meet, and the doors putting yourself out there could open for you.
