91Èȱ¬

• Short story writing tips + inspiration
• 91Èȱ¬ National Short Story Award
• Information and resources for teachers - 91Èȱ¬ Teach

Here's a bit more about this year's 91Èȱ¬ Young Writers' Award panel

Testament is a writer, rapper and world record breaking human beatboxer. His most recent play ‘Black Men Walking’ for Eclipse Theatre garnered critical acclaim and sold out venues around the UK. Testament’s work includes the celebrated Hip-Hop album 91Èȱ¬cut: No Freedom Without, several spoken word performances for 91Èȱ¬ Radio (1xtra, Radio 4 and 6Music) and his acclaimed play Blake Remixed – a personal response to the work of William Blake. His work continually returns to the theme of human connectivity and trying to find the spiritual in the everyday. Testament is also a writer-in-residence at Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, a First Story writer-in-residence, and is currently touring his new spoken word beatbox show WOKE.

Katie Thistleton has been a familiar face on 91Èȱ¬ programmes since 2013 where she has been a live Presenter of 'the bits in between the shows' on C91Èȱ¬ for almost 6 years. She is the presenter of The C91Èȱ¬ Book Club, where she has interviewed authors such Jacqueline Wilson, David Walliams and Cressida Cowell to name a few. Katie is now also a regular voice on 91Èȱ¬ Radio 1, presenting 'Life Hacks' on Sundays 4-7pm and previously presenting 'The Surgery’ as well as also covering for other Radio 1 DJ’s. She’s also an avid writer and reader and campaigns for getting young people to read and write. Katie is passionate about raising mental health awareness, and is an ambassador for children's mental health charities YoungMinds and Place2be.

Anthony Cartwright is the author of five novels, the most recent of which, The Cut, was commissioned in response to the Brexit vote as part of the Peirene Now! series. His work concentrates on the lives of working class characters in his native West Midlands, seeking, as a Guardian review of his 2016 novel Iron Towns suggests, 'a fictional enactment of communal identity and shared culture'. His first novel, The Afterglow, was the recipient of a Betty Trask Award, and his subsequent novels have been shortlisted for various literary awards, including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Gordon Burn Prize. He is currently a First Story writer-in-residence at Abbey Manor College, Lewisham, and Willowfield School, Walthsmstow and also a visiting lecturer at City University, London.

Kiran Millwood Hargrave writes bestselling adventure stories for children. The Girl of Ink & Stars won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2017, and the British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year. The Island at the End of Everything won the Historical Association’s Young Quills Award, was shortlisted for the Costa Book Award, the Blue Peter Best Story Award, and longlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Award. Her third novel, The Way Past Winter, came out in October 2018 and was named Blackwells Children’s Book of the Year. Kiran lives in Oxford with her husband, the artist Tom de Freston, and their rescue cat, Luna.

Patrice Lawrence was born in Brighton and lives in London with a cat called Stormageddon. She has been writing stories for as long as she can remember and reading them out to anybody who will listen. Orangeboy (Hachette) her first book for teenagers, was shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award and won the Waterstones Prize for Older Fiction and the YA Bookseller Prize. Indigo Donut (also Hachette) won the Crimefest YA Prize. Her published short stories include 'All Things Bright and Beautiful' in the Make More Noise anthology (Nosy Crow) and 'The Clean Sweep' in the A Change is Gonna Come collection (Stripes). She has also written short stories for adults.