Wicked Writers Winner
The winners of the 2024 Wicked Writers: Be The Change writing competition, a collaboration between the National Literacy Trust and the stage musical Wicked, as part of its Wicked Active Learning cultural and social education programme, have been announced, and we are thrilled that Luo Chen in Year 8 is amongst them.
This year’s theme was the environment, and 1600 children across the UK have made their voices heard about the issues they are passionate about, including climate change, earth and sea pollution, and animal extinction, with the winners announced today, Earth Day 2024 (22 April).
Research from the National Literacy Trust shows that children and young people’s enjoyment of writing is at one of its lowest levels since 2010, holding many back from the potential academic and well-being benefits writing can bring.
According to the charity’s research, giving young people the opportunity to write to support the causes they care most about can be a powerful motivator – demonstrated by the overwhelming response to this year’s Wicked Writers: Be the Change competition and the high quality of the entries.
Tim Judge, Head of School Programmes at the National Literacy Trust, said: “We have been blown away by the amount of impassioned, persuasive essays and stories submitted by pupils this year on the environment. Writing can be great for young people’s wellbeing and this competition shows pupils how they can use their literacy skills to have their voices heard on issues they care about.”
Explaining why 13-year-old Luo Chen He was chosen as the winner of his age group, the judges said: “Using a Kafkaesque vision of the world to articulate the importance and ability of the individual to effect seismic change for their future, this emotive piece of writing inspired us all. It is refreshingly thought-provoking: the shifting narrator is incredibly original and therefore powerfully persuasive. It is a wonderfully creative concept that captures the difficulty of making a change and yet is also hopeful.”
Luo Chen said: “From all the fabulous applicants, I am amazed and grateful that I have won this competition. I tried to make my approach to the theme unique by focusing on human thoughts about the environment. I totally recommend anyone to enter this competition next year, and to be original with their piece. When you write, you make might – isn’t that true?”
Luo Chen's prizes include a class workshop with M. G. Leonard, where they will learn how to craft a great persuasive essay or story, and tips on making their voice and passion heard, and a group trip to see Wicked in London.