Young Writers short story success for Perse pupil

16 Apr 2018

A powerful short story written by Sheen Gahlaut (Year 8) has been chosen for publication in a major compilation.

Her story, Poisoned Youth, is set to appear in Young Writers anthology Stranger Sagas – The UK and Beyond, which is released on 31 May.

Sheen, a member of The Perse’s Creative Writing Club, entered her work into the Young Writers competition, which challenged youngsters to pen a story in just 100 words.

Her “abstract” tale is centred on a boy sat on a bus, considering how he views the world and how he feels he is perceived by others.

Despite enjoying writing short stories, she admitted finding the word limit challenging but was thrilled her work would soon be in print.

Sheen, who admires Skullduggery Pleasant mystery series author Derek Landy, said: “I wanted to make it as gripping as possible and make people feel they wanted to read on, so this is amazing.”

Listen to Sheen read aloud her story Poisoned Youth below.