Moonlight Magic
Year 7 student earns a place at this year’s prestigious Cheshire Prize for Literature Awards Evening.
Earlier this year, Mrs Phillips was delighted to receive an invitation from the University of Chester encouraging Queen’s Park High School students to take part in the Cheshire Prize for Literature 2026. The competition, which celebrates creative writing across the region, was shared with students and we’re thrilled to see one of our youngest writers make her mark.
Annabelle, from Year 7, submitted her poem 'Moon Goddess' and has since been shortlisted, a fantastic achievement, especially in a year that has seen more entries than ever before.
The competition is judged by a panel led by Dr Harry Parkin, Senior Lecturer in Communications, Screen and Performance at the University of Chester. With such a high number of submissions, reaching the shortlist is an impressive accomplishment.
Annabelle has been invited to attend the Awards Evening on Thursday 2nd July at the University of Chester’s Exton Park Campus, where the winners and anthology selections will be announced. The evening will also feature a talk from children’s author Ele Fountain, whose award-winning books and experience in publishing promise to make the event even more inspiring.
The Cheshire Prize for Literature has been running since 2003 and is now one of the area’s leading competitions, supporting and celebrating both emerging and established writers. Open to young people as well as adults, it encourages creativity in a range of categories, including poetry, short stories and scriptwriting.
"We are incredibly proud of Annabelle. Being shortlisted in such a competitive field is a fantastic achievement. Her poem really captured the imagination and it’s wonderful to see her creativity recognised at this level."
Mrs Phillips, assistant headteacher
What a brilliant achievement at such an early stage of secondary school. We wish Annabelle the very best of luck for the awards evening!
Extract from ‘Moon Goddess’ by Annabelle:
Using the milky white moon as her bow,
She pulled back the string and then let it go.
She let another arrow fly,
Across the dark midnight sky…
