The Spectator's £1,000 Schools Writing Competition
By a majority decision, the judges have decided that the winner of t'ne £50C first prize is Jon Margolis, of Ilford, Essex. His school, which will receive books to the value of £250, is Bancroft's School, Woodford Green, Essex. Margolis chose for his winning entry to write a short story on the subject " 1984". We will be publishing the piece shortly. The Secretary of State for Education and Science, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, will present the prize on Tuesday, December 12.
Our original intention was to award subsidiary prizes of E20 to the boy or girl who wrote the best entry on each of the twelve subjects given. But when we came to examine the entries, we found that some subjects were far more popular than others and that to have adhered to our original intention would have been to have awarded prizes which, in some cases, would not have been deserved. Having reduced the entries to about twenty, it became clear that the winner would be found within a short list of six. Consequently, we have decided that the five who remained on the short list, after the winner had been picked, will be awarded runners-up prizes of 00 each.
The runners-up are: Robin Gauldie, Waterside, Invergowrie, Dundee (of Dundee High School); Jeremy Griffiths, Normandie. Moreton Paddox, Moreton Merrell, Warwickshire (of Leamington College for Boys); Leo Johnston, 13 Windermere Crescent, South Shields, Co. Durham (of St. Aidan's Grammar School, Sunderland); Nicola Kay Spanswick, 4 Nether'hall, 25 The Drive, Sidcup, Kent (of Beaverwood School); and Christine Williams, 15a St. Andrew's Mansions, Old Church Lane, London NW9 8RU (of Alper-ton High School, Wembley).
In general, we were disappointed by the level of entries. Most of them were pretty humdrum, and no piece at all blazed with originality. The degree of competence was quite high; but of incipient brilliance there was disappointingly little evidence. Of the prizewinners we can, however, say that they have deserved their awards. We congratulate them, and wish them a success we feel confident they will enjoy.
The original judges were Lord Boyle, former Minister of Education and nOW Vice-Chancellor of Leeds University, Bamber Gascoigne, novelist and television quiz master of 'University Challenge,' and novelists L. P. Hartley and A. S. Byatt. Unfortunately, Mr Hartley had to drop out owing to illness and Miss Byatt for private reasons. The deputy editor of The Spectator, Dr Patrick Cosgrave, and the Literary Editor, Mr Christopher Hudson, who had been responsible for making the preliminary • selection, joined the main panel of judges, whose chairman was Mr George Gale, editor of The Spectator.
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