A North London school pupil has been crowned the winner of the Royal Mint Museum’s annual short-story competition.

Eleven-year-old Ione Knight from Rhodes Avenue Primary School captured the imaginations of judges with her tale around the central theme of “Coins and the Sea” and was pronounced this year’s top storyteller at the Hay Festival.

As the grand prize winner, Ione was awarded a £5,000 voucher to spend on books and equipment for the school library with Peters, specialist supplier of books and equipment to primary and secondary schools in Britain.

In addition, the pupil won a commemorative coin set and a framed copy of her story, illustrated by celebrated artist and coin designer David Lawrence.

Contest judge Greg Jenner said, in a press release, “The Girl with the Hair Like Fire is an example of truly sublime writing and emotive storytelling. It’s totally heartbreaking! It is so beautifully written and very moving with the dialogue and scene-setting so elegantly handled. The writer shows huge skill, with such great command of language and the final image of the long-lost pair still at the helm is dreadfully sobering.”

Four runner-up prizes of commemorative coins were also awarded, as well as five highly commended prizes and certificates.

All the winning stories are available to read on the Royal Mint Museum website and become part of the Museum’s archive which documents the history of the Royal Mint over the past 1,100 years.

Dr. Kevin Clancy of the Royal Mint Museum said, in a press release, “Over the last four years, the Royal Mint Museum’s Short Story Competition has captured children’s imagination on a range of different topics and its popularity has gone from strength to strength.

“The stories are moving and funny, inventive and always a joy to read. It is particularly satisfying to see entries coming in from every part of the United Kingdom.”

The annual short-story competition is open to all pupils aged 8 to 11. The Royal Mint Museum develops content to ignite the imagination of pupils interested in writing a 500-word story on the topic of the year. Inspiration and downloadable teaching resources are available on the short-story competition website.

For more information about the short-story competition, visit www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/learning/short-story-competition/

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