By Alesha Capone
Young Point Cook resident Margaret has been recognised as a talented wordsmith, winning three prizes in an international competition run by Western Union Writers group.
The Werribee-based group’s annual Imagination Creation contest for young writers is open to entrants from around the world.
This year, the competition received more than 485 entries.
Margaret, 12, won first prize in the story category for those aged 11 to 14 and second prize in the age group’s poetry section.
She also received an award aimed at recognising a promising young Wyndham author.
Margaret said that when she opened a letter from the Western Union Writers about the competition results, she was not expecting to learn she would receive three prizes.
“It was a surprise for me, but a good one,” she said.
Margaret said her winning story, of about 1000 words, was based on raising awareness of depression, while her poem was called Momento Mori.
“I remember back in grade prep, I started writing stories and the teacher complimented me,” she said. “I said to mum, ‘I want to be a writer’.”
But she said that nowadays, she would prefer to keep writing as a hobby.
“I like the flow of it – making something out of nothing,” she said.
Margaret said she often submitted her stories to websites and was helping a friend to create a web comic and an animatics video for YouTube.
