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Myerscough students urged to share their lockdown stories

Published
Wednesday 29 Jul 2020

Myerscough College students are being invited to share their experiences of studying in lockdown, that could then be shared in a new book.

FUTURE U LOGO

The Lockdown Diaries is a new initiative being launched by careers organisation, Future U, and is a writing competition for 14-19 year-olds to create a range of short stories, poems or journal entries inspired by the coronavirus pandemic.

Students are being asked to write either a fiction or non-fiction piece no more than 500 words long.

The top 10 entries will be published in a special anthology, while the overall winner will get a free Amazon Kindle. The entries will be judged by international author Philippa Holloway whose short stories and travel writing has been published across the world while teaching English literature and creative writing at Edge Hill University.

Philippa said: "The pandemic lockdown 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."

Dr Emma Deeks, senior coordinator at Future U added: "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 to increase career aspirations and higher education for young people and works with a network of schools, in addition to colleges, higher education providers and local agencies to create tailored activities to meet the needs of students.

The deadline is Saturday 15th August and entries can be submitted HERE

by Dave Salmon

DSalmon@myerscough.ac.uk