For the 2008 competition, writers under 12 were asked to write a story in any style using the idea of a fantasy quest. Guidelines for a story were given though these were not compulsory. The word limit was 2000 words. Writers were referred to traditional examples such as the thousand year old Irish epic, The Voyage of Maeldun, an outline of which is available from the downloads section of this site. Games from the Imagine On booklet were also recommended.

We had some literally fantastic entries. As you’ll see, these came from writers across a very broad age range. Many came from special Able Writers groups of gifted and talented writers, selected from several schools, though we still had a lot of excellent independent entries from writers up to Year 7. Our two youngest writers in the competition (both 7 years old) produced superb tales and were awarded special prizes. Schools such as Dallington Primary in East Sussex and Holland Park in Clacton-on-Sea in Essex sent in batches of very lively stories. The extraordinary Blyth family from Tunbridge Wells produced 3 stories in the final short list of 10. The winning story came from last year’s special prize winner – clearly a very gifted young writer.

We feel sure you’ll enjoy reading the stories and biographies below.

FIRST PRIZE WINNER £ 50* : Sadiya Quazi for her story 'The Keeper of Elements'
Sadiya lives in Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire and goes to Sheredes Primary School.

‘This is quite simply an astounding piece of writing from a very gifted young writer, vivid, gripping and convincing. It takes on the fantasy quest theme with mature assurance and is very boldly written in the present tense, so that there is a breathless excitement about it throughout. The complications of the plot are handled with great skill, the dialogue is brilliantly managed and the division of the tale into short sections works perfectly. A very clear winner of the first prize. We are delighted to see the extraordinary developments in her writing since she won our special prize last year.'

*Young writers take note! From what she says about herself in her biography above, Sadiya clearly takes her writing seriously enough to work on her style and develop it in new ways constantly, at the same time as simply enjoying the pleasure of letting her imagination lead her where it will. We’re sure that this is a major key to her success – it’s how you learn the craft and art of writing, however talented you are.

Read or download Sadiya's winning story, ‘The Keeper of Elements’

Second prize £ 25*: Danny Booth for his story 'Gateway to the Forest'
Danny lives in Guilford, Surrey

Danny’s story stood out for the brilliantly observed humour of the real-world dialogue that frames the central fantasy story told by grandpa and the cleverness of the structure. It clearly strikes a chord with many older brothers and sisters and was much enjoyed by children to whom it was read as part of the judging. Grandpa’s story might just work better with less dialogue and more narrative – people telling stories don’t usually do lots of speech by the different characters they mention unless they are gifted mimics. However that is only a minor quibble and this is excellent and very promising comic writing.

Read or download Danny’s second prize winning story, ‘Gateway to the Forest’

I first found out about the Imaginary Journeys competition last year when Rob Parkinson ran a workshop at my school. I entered last year and was a runner–up, so I was excited when I learnt about this year’s competition. I recently told my story at the Sussex Headteachers’ conference in Brighton and they really liked it. I love writing and storytelling because you use your imagination and can write anything you want, go anywhere you want and do anything you want!

My favourite types of books are adventure stories. A few of my favourites are, the Harry Potter series, Guardians of Time Trilogy, Artemis Fowl, Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, His Dark Materials. Some of my best loved authors are, J.K Rowling, Michael Morpurgo, Anthony Horowitz, Eoin Colfer, Phillip Pullman and Michelle Paver."

Jack’s light-hearted fantasy tale is very well balanced. It has plenty of humour and imagination, whilst the plot is just right for a short tale. He writes with an excellent sense of pace and rhythm – the story ‘sounds well’ when read aloud, always a good test for a story of this kind. All in all, it’s a very accomplished and enjoyable piece of writing showing a lot of promise..

Read or download Jack’s third prize winning story, ‘Magical Mishap’

My favourite author is Colin Dann who wrote The Animals of Farthing Wood. I also like Enid Blyton. This is because I enjoy stories about animals and about adventure quests.

I am very interested in nature and know a lot about animals. I love reading but it is nature that inspires me for story writing. I have thousands of story plans in my head but I hardly ever write them down.

My other hobbies are art, playing the piano, jazz, ballet and swimming."

Rose’s delightful, satisfying and beautifully written story was very popular with children to whom it was read as part of the judging. Surprisingly for such a young writer, she handles all the direct speech superbly, whilst keeping the exciting action moving forward with some very well paced narrative. It’s a wonderful achievement from the competition’s youngest writer and very exciting to imagine the marvellous stories Rose will write in future.

* Rose’s handwritten manuscript was decorated with some excellent small drawings. We were unfortunately unable to reproduce these with the manuscript below. Rose’s older brother and sister, Robert and Elizabeth, also wrote 2 excellent stories that reached the final shortlist of 10 in the competition – obviously a very talented family.

Read or download Rose’s special prize winning story, ‘Quest to find the Rat Paradise’

This is an extraordinary piece of writing from a 7 year old, but it reached the final stages of the judging on its merits as a story alongside the work of much older writers. (In fact in the earliest stages, we hadn’t even noticed it was by such a Year 2 writer!) It is clearly and boldly imagined and powerfully written. Jack will no doubt learn to flesh out parts of his stories as his writing develops – there is enough of a plot in this story to make a whole book! Some major events are skated over a little too quickly. But this is certainly the work of a writer to watch.

Read or download Jack’s special prize winning story, ‘The Ice Crystal’

RUNNERS-UP IN THE 2008 IMAGINARY JOURNEYS COMPETITION

Daniel Mc Conkey (Claverham Community School, Battle Y7) for his story ‘Leaf’
Tom Winkworth – Dallington Primary School, East Sussex Y6) for his story Quest
Robert Blyth (Tunbridge Wells – Y6) for his story Raven
Elizabeth Blyth (Tunbridge Wells Y5) for her story Journey to the City of Dreams
Ella Richards (St Mary’s RC Primary School, Gosport Y5) for her story The Quest of the Golden Star

Second Runner-up group: These stories reached the penultimate judging stage and will all receive a book and a highly commended certificate.

Chloe Morris (St Mary’s RC Primary School, Gosport Y6) for her story The Key to my Heart
Rhona Moody (Dallington Primary School, East Sussex Y6) for her story The World Behind the Door
Tirza Thompson (Dallington Primary School, East Sussex Y6) for her story A New Start
Rachel Hawkins (Davington Primary School, Faversham Y5) for her story Island of the Dead!
Millie Tillman (Davington Primary School, Faversham Y5) for her story The Land of Flame
Sylvia Villa (Langton Green, Kent Y6) for her story The Breakfast Quest in the Land of Ging

Commended stories:
These stories will all receive a certificate. (We may have some additional books from Macmillan to give out to these writers – no promises!)