Scottish author Gill Stewart calls for young writers to ‘get creative’ in short story competition

A Scots children’s writer has called on budding young authors to show off their talents in a new national writing competition.

Gill Stewart, author of the Galloway Girls series and Lily’s Just Fine, is one of the judges in Premier Inn’s short story competition, launched to raise money for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital (GOSH).

Children aged 15 and under can get creative and submit short stories with inspiration coming from anywhere – be it their own real-life experiences or something from the depths of their imaginations.

Their 500-word short story should either be on the theme of relaxation or inspiration, with the winners seeing their story published in a charity book.

Gill joins an esteemed panel of judges including Barry Cunningham, the acclaimed publisher perhaps best known for snapping up JK Rowling and her record-breaking Harry Potter series.

She said: “I’m delighted to be chosen to judge this exciting writing competition for young authors. Reading at bedtime has always been a favourite with me, but the idea of a story to wake up to is really interesting.

“I can’t wait to see what inspires young writers today.”

© Adam Fradgley

A new study by Premier Inn suggests that almost 4 in 10 (39%) of Scottish parents haven’t read to their children, despite 21% saying they have fond memories of being read to as a child, according to new research.

With 35% of parents in the region saying it is important for kids to be encouraged to write stories, the competition aims to help foster creativity.

Simon Ewins, Managing Director at Premier Inn UK said: “We help millions of people to have a great night’s sleep and wake up ready for whatever the day holds, so we’re thrilled to launch our young people’s short story competition which will uncover exciting new stories to help encourage a restful night’s sleep – and get their day off to the best possible start.

“We’re all a huge fan of the traditional bedtime story and as a great night’s sleep is also all about setting you up for the day ahead, we thought it would be a fun twist to launch the UK’s first ‘wake up-time’ story collection. The UK is bursting with talented young people and we can’t wait to start reading all of the stories entered.”

Winners in two categories, under 10s and ages 11-15, will be chosen by the panel and in addition, there will be twenty-four regional runners-up, celebrating the UK’s literary brilliance all the way from the South West to Scotland.

The winning wordsmith’s work will then be published, and the prize also includes a two-night stay at a Premier Inn of the winner’s choice.

Young authors can submit their masterpieces by emailing StoryPremierInn@golin.com.

The competition runs until the end of March 2020. For more information visit www.premierinn.com