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29 June 2018
An Upper Sixth student at Farnborough Hill has won the 18-25 age category in the Wicked Young Writer Award with her short story Last Chance.
Imogen Usherwood, one of the youngest entrants in the category, attended a prestigious awards ceremony at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, home of the hit musical Wicked, on Thursday 21 June 2018. She said: ‘It was such a privilege to attend the awards ceremony, with performances from the cast of Wicked and the chance to meet the judges Cressida Cowell, Nicky Cox, Ed Balls and Jonathan Douglas, and the brilliant host Greg James. It felt so surreal to hear my name read out as winner and I was totally overwhelmed by the entire experience, especially hearing Andy Hockley (who plays the Wizard) read my story in front of so many people, and being interviewed for websites and press releases afterwards. I never even expected to be a finalist, let alone to win, but I’m so grateful for everything the award has done for my confidence and I hope it continues to support young people’s writing for many years to come! I would definitely recommend the Wicked Young Writer Awards to anyone who is interested in writing, as it really is the most incredible experience.’
Head, Alexandra Neil, added: ‘We are very proud of Imogen and her winning of this well-deserved award. She has always been a talented writer and to have her talents recognised on such a public stage is wonderful.’
The Wicked Young Writers Award, created by the producers of Wicked in association with the National Literacy Trust, were set up to encourage and recognise excellence in writing and creativity. Running for 8 years, this year the award had over 4,500 entrants across all categories. Imogen was particularly excited to have her award certificate signed by Parton HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.
