TEN-year-old Olivia Tomlinson beat off stiff competition to win a highly commended in the Wicked Young Writer Awards 2016.

Now in its sixth year and championed by The Duchess of Cornwall, who is a patron, the competition is a celebration of originality and “unique voices”.

Young writers aged between five and 25, are invited to enter stories or poems about the positive impact people can have on each other.

Olivia (pictured), from Hindhead, who gained a highly commended in the 8-10 category, was inspired to enter after reading Hilaire Belloc’s ‘Cautionary Tales for Children’.

In a “wicked” five-verse poem about Bermuda Hyde, she tells the sorry story of the shock exit of the girl who kept alarming her parents by disappearing wherever she went.

“I’d been reading Cautionary Tales so I wanted to write one of my own,” she told The Herald. “I chose Bermuda because my dad was going there and we were worried he might disappear.”

The winners were announced at an awards ceremony and celebration held at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre, home of the long-running hit musical ‘Wicked’ and had the additional thrill of seeing their entries published in the ‘Wicked Young Writer Awards Anthology’.

The judges included Cressida Cowell – bestselling author of How to Train Your Dragon books and award-winning poet and playwright, Sabrina Mahfouz.

Cressida said: “This year, my fellow judges and I read poems and stories that were poignant, amusing and captivating. They addressed really big issues, war, homelessness, prejudice, and abuse. There was an incredible range of styles and an array of brilliantly original voices, but they all had this in common: they made us judges feel something.

“As an author, one of the main messages I want to get across to the young people in this country is that a career in writing or the arts is an option open to them. Did you know that last year the creative industries made £10 million an hour for the UK economy? These young writers, whether finalists or winners, need to carry on writing.”