Bedford teenager makes shortlist for BBC Young Writers’ Award

A teenager who lives near Bedford is one of five to be shortlisted for BBC Young Writers’ Award.

17-year-old Eleanor Ware's effort - Blood and Water - has certainly caught the judges' eye.

It was written after Eleanor’s grandmother mentioned they were descended from the Huguenots - French Protestants persecuted in France in the 17th century.

Her story examines the humanity in the immigrant experience as a family attempt to escape from their persecutors by boat and under cover of night.

Highlighting the way refugees continue to be dehumanised by society, Eleanor - who is her final year of A-levels - creates a complete world where this family of clockmakers can be seen for the ‘real’ people they are.

Now in its seventh year, the BBC Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University 2021 is open to all writers between the ages of 14-18 years.

The judges are Radio 1’s Katie Thistleton; Mercury Prize winner, singer-songwriter Arlo Parks; the highly acclaimed Irish YA author, Louise O’Neill; Sunday Times bestselling author and actor Robert Webb; and Guardian Children’s Fiction Award winner Alex Wheatle.

The winner will be announced live on Radio 4 ’s Front Row on October 19.

Shortlisted stories can be read and listed to here