Quedgeley teen wins slot at Cheltenham Literature Festival

Lucy Good, 17, is one of three young winners of the David Vaisey Young Person’s award, announced last week. She receives a prize of £100 and has been invited to give an online introduction at Cheltenham Literature Festival on Thursday 8 October.

Lucy will give a video introduction to an event with Carys Davies and Rachel Joyce on Thursday 8 October at Cheltenham Town Hall.

Lucy set up Word Wizards at Quedgeley Library, a club for children aged six and over, which particularly aimed to support children who were less confident about reading or socialising.

Every Saturday, prior to the impact of the coronavirus, Lucy presented a story or a poem and provided toys or other items connected to the theme such as Christmas, autumn, jungle. She encouraged the children to read a line or two and create their own story .

“The session became so popular that we had to create an additional group on a Saturday to accommodate everyone and keep the informal, friendly buzz,” said a member of the team at Quedgeley Library.

The David Vaisey Prize normally recognises outstanding initiatives in Gloucestershire Libraries with a £5000 prize. This year it has not been able to run, however the Young Person’s Award has gone ahead and was also awarded to Jay Habgood, 17, for his Sunday morning coding club at Bishops Cleeve Library and Freya Simpson-Hooper, 15, for her creative writing group at Tewkesbury Library

The team of judges, comprising writers and literary experts Rachel Joyce, Deborah Thacker, Caroline Sanderson, Marianne Hinton and Julian Hasler, were impressed by Lucy’s dedication.

“What wonderful initiative by Lucy in devising an entirely new club for children who are not confident readers, and with amazing results too. I love her creativity. The obvious huge success that Word Wizards has been, evidenced by increased library footfall is a real testament to all her efforts,” said judge Caroline Sanderson.