A YOUNG writer who penned a short story about cancer after losing her favourite teacher to the illness has won a competition.

Annabelle Foulds, ten, of Corporation Road Primary School in Darlington, was named the winner of a contest held by author and academic Gabrielle Kent, who has been delivering creative writing workshops across the Tees Valley.

Her success in the competition was announced during a special whole-school assembly.

She said: “I can’t believe I have won and I am so excited. When I saw Gabrielle walk into our assembly I did not expect to have won at all because my story is so serious.”

Her winning piece, I Didn’t Want To, is written in the first person and portrays the struggle of a mystery character before revealing the identity of the narrator is, in fact, cancer.

Annabelle added: “When I was younger I remember my dad writing a story about a sword, as if it was from the sword’s perspective, and I wanted to try it for myself. The reason I chose to write about cancer is because my favourite teacher, Miss Joanna Henderson, sadly died of the disease and I know if it something that a lot of people have been affected by. I wanted to write a serious, grown-up story so that more people could relate to it.”

The prize was a signed copy of Ms Kent’s book, plus £100 worth of book vouchers.

Annabelle added: “I already have a list of books that I want to spend my voucher on and I would love to become an author myself one day.”

Ms Kent, author of the “Alfie Bloom” book series, and a senior lecturer in computer games development at Teesside University’s School of Computing, said: “We had some brilliant entries from all eight schools. However Annabelle’s story truly stood out as the overall winner because it was so different from our other entries.

“The impact the piece had on all four judges was phenomenal and we almost could not believe that such a young child had created something so powerful. I am certain that if Annabelle continues developing her skills, she could become a successful author in the future.”

Corporation Road is one of five Darlington academies in the Lingfield Education Trust.

For more information about Gabrielle Kent and her books, visit www.gabriellekent.com