Sudbury Library are holding a special presentation event this Saturday (4 November) to announce the winners of a children’s writing competition and launch an anthology of all 44 entries.
500 Words, generously published by local publishers Lavenham Press, features a foreword by bestselling author Anthony Horowitz OBE. Horowitz has also signed two copies of the book, which will be presented to the two competition winners.
The competition was organised by Sudbury Library and the Friends of Sudbury Library. Local children were challenged to write a short story of up to 500 words, with two competition categories, for ages 6-9 and 10-13. After the presentation and launch, the book will be available to buy for £5, with all proceeds helping to support Suffolk Libraries and the Friends of Sudbury Library.
Horowitz himself read the entries and praised their quality and the language used by the contributors. In the foreword, he writes: “If anyone has any doubt about the value and the importance of a community library, they should read this collection of short stories.”
He continues: “Sudbury is very fortunate to have such a great facility… I very much hope that this book will help to support Sudbury Library now and in the future.”
Horowitz has written over 40 books including the bestselling Alex Rider teen spy series, which is estimated to have sold 19 million copies worldwide. He was also commissioned to write two new Sherlock Holmes novels and more recently was also commissioned to write a new James Bond novel, Trigger Mortis.
He is also responsible for creating and writing some of the UK’s most beloved and successful television series, producing the first seven episodes of Midsomer Murders and creating the award-winning drama series Foyle’s War.