The Pen to Print Awards 2020 – Competition Results
By Lena Smith, Library Project Manager – London Borough of Barking & Dagenham.
The Pen to Print Awards are our annual celebration of Pen to Print’s work where we announce the winners of our competitions. The Pen to Print Awards 2020, were postponed from June 2020 and we were pleased to eventually hold at a virtual ceremony on Thursday 28 January 2021. We have listed the winners announced on the night here.
The only competition announced in June 2020 was The Book Challenge 2019. The writers had already been working hard through 2019 on their books, we didn’t want to make them wait another year to find out who had won! Therefore, we made an announcement of these winners live on Facebook in June 2020. You can now buy their books online and you can find the results here.
As you can imagine, 2020 brought its challenges to our work and in response to the restrictions brought in on 23 March 2020 we decided to extended the closing dates for our competitions from the end of March 2020 until September 2020. We were not disappointed with the response, we received hundreds of entries to our competitions.
All the results of our 2019/20 competitions are listed here and you can also enjoy reading the winning poetry, stories and plays by clicking links in their titles.
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Fancy having a go?
Competitions are now open to new entries. Details of the competitions, how to enter and T&Cs can be found here on our website, go to pentoprint.org/competitions. Keep checking for details regularly, as we often run flash competitions throughout the year.
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N.B. All works posted here are subject to the copyright of the author and should not be reproduced without their express permission.
Winner of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
7 to 11 Age Group (Primary School)
Beres from William Bellamy Primary School
with Thomas Grattbeem
Runner-up of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
7 to 11 Age Group (Primary School)
Angel from William Bellamy Primary School
with Sherry Blossom
Winner of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
11 to 14 Age Group (Secondary School)
Zania from Robert Clack School
with Do a Little Boogie and Stay Alive
Runner-up of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
11 to 14 Age Group (Secondary School)
Alexis from Riverside School
with Swinging in the Rain
Esha from The Sydney Russell School
with Fake News, Real News
Samantha from All Saints Catholic School
with The End of School
Winner outside of Barking & Dagenham
7 to 11 Age Group (Primary School)
Jasmira from Well’s Primary School, Woodford Green
with Zera’s Quest
Winner outside of Barking and Dagenham
11 to 14 Age Group (Secondary School)
Molly Ann from Debden Park High School
with COVID 19
Runner-up
Ella from Debden Park Hight School
with The Holocaust
The Overall Winner of the Michael Feld Commmorative Trophy
Zania from Robert Clack School
with Do a Little Boogie and Stay Alive
The Michael Feld Competition for Young Writers is pausing for 2021 but will return in 2022.
For all Pen to Print competition details go to pentoprint.org/competitions
Winner of the Pen to Print Poetry Competition
Lauren Geary
with
Bloom
Second Place
Zoe Neirizi
with
If
Third Place
Shane O’Connor
with
The Moka Pot
Special Commendation
Penny Tyler
with
Surreal Times
The Winner of the Pen to Print Short Story Competition
Jayne Rowney
with
The Pie Bird
Second Place
Cheryl Freedman
with
My Other Real Life
Third Place
Ciara Campbell
with
Power
Special Commendation
Millie Moore
with
Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Hat
The next Pen to Print Poetry & Short Story Competition is open for new entries for details of how to enter and T&Cs go to pentoprint.org/competitions
The Winner of the Pen to Print Playwriting Competition 2019/20
Sylvia Anne Telfer
with
Bibi Baobab
Second Place
Mark Oakley
with
And the Rocks Called Out “No Hiding Place”
Third Place
Lark Holden
with
The Offer
The Pen to Print Playwriting Competition is having a rest for 2021.
New for 2021 is The Pen to Print Audio Play Competition, now open for new entries, for details of how to enter and T&Cs go to pentoprint.org/competitions
The Joint Winners of the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Staff Writing Comeptition
Vince Thomas
with
Accidental Noises
and
Jason Duck
with
Our United Kingdom
The Pen to Print Staff Writing Competition is now open to new entries from employees and officers of The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and its subsidiaries. For details of how to enter and T&Cs go to pentoprint.org/competitions.
The Winner The Book Challenge 2019
Ellen Hiller
with
The Cursed Shore
Second Place
Dagmara Drozdowska
with
The City of Runes: Devine Your Future
Third Place
Natalie Dan
with
Scattered Dandelions
The Other Finalists were:
Gurjit Singh Banal with Bones
Nick Maynard with CRIPPLE: A 21st Century Parable
Josephine Channer with Diary of a Prison Officer
Agnieszka Dryjas-Makhloufi with The Journey of Seagulls
Dami Edun with OgMan: The Birth of a New King
The 2021 finalist cohort have now started on thier writing journey with
The Book Challenge. They will be mentored throughout 2021. The winners will be announced in June 2022.
Gertcha Cowson with Rocks in a Spin Dryer
Jill Smith with Four Kinds of Shipwreck
Mentor – Anna Robinson
Mary Walsh with Detective Armando Ramirez and the Iberico Murder
Zoe Neirizi with Owls Cry By Night
Mentor – Barbara Nadel
Dan Millen with Season Spring
Sarah de Winter with Secrets of a Gas Station
Mentor – Ian Ayris
Matt Wixey with Helmsman’s Basilisk
Lel Meleyal with Every Day Wendy
Mentor – Jacqueline Gabbitas
Lark Holden with The Trials of Sylvie DaSouza
Kimberly Hovish with Where Secrets Lie
Mentor – Preetha Chockalingam
The Book Challenge will open to new entries on 1 September 2021.
The Book Challenge will close on 30 September 2022.
For competition details and T&Cs go to pentoprint.org/comeptitons from 1 September 2021.
And the winner is....
