Young people across Preston are being challenged to use their experiences of lockdown to spark a career in creative writing.

Future U, which works to increase career aspirations and higher education for young people in Lancashire, has launched ‘The Lockdown Diaries’, a writing competition for 14-19 year olds to create a range of short stories, poems or journal entries inspired by the pandemic and resulting lockdown.

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The competition is designed to make young people think about future careers in creative writing, such as becoming an author, script writer, copywriter, or even an English teacher.

The top 10 submissions will be published in a special anthology and the overall winner will received an Amazon Kindle to continue their love of reading.

Entries should be no longer than 500 words and can be submitted either on the Future U website or via pupils’ schools. All entries should be submitted before the deadline on Saturday 15 August.

Entires will be judged by international author Philippa Holloway, who has had her short stories and travel writing published across the world, in addition to teaching English Literature and Creative Writing at Edge Hill University.

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Philippa said: “The pandemic has affected everyone in so many different ways, and I believe it is vital that we take time to think about, and process, its impact.

“Writing about the situation can help us understand it, and ourselves, more clearly. I can’t wait to read stories by the young people of Lancashire and to hear what it means to them.”

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Dr Emma Deeks, Senior Coordinator at Future U, said: “We know that for many young people, having to stay home and miss out on normal life like school and seeing friends has been difficult, but it has also provided an opportunity to experience different things and have more time to spend thinking and creating.

“We wanted to design a project that allowed young people to express this creativity and potentially inspire them to pursue a career within the creative industries.”

Future U works alongside the Lancashire’s four universities and 10 colleges, including Preston’s College, Runshaw College and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), and has continued to deliver activities online during the lockdown.

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Do you know a talented young writer? Tell us about them in the comments below.