Our latest ‘Edmonton Youth Hero’ is Heike Ghandi whose short story linking origami and politics has been selected as a winner of The Orwell Youth Prize 2023

Heike Ghandi collects her prize from Liz
Wallace (credit Facundo Arrizabalaga) — Heike Ghandi collects her prize from Liz Wallace (credit Facundo Arrizabalaga)

A secondary school student from Edmonton has been selected as a winner of The Orwell Youth Prize 2023 – from a total of 570 entries throughout the UK.

The Orwell Youth Prize is an annual creative writing competition for children aged twelve and over, inspired by the works of George Orwell and his commitment to social justice. The 2023 theme was ‘Who’s in Control?’ and Heike Ghandi’s political short story was described by the judging chair as an “intriguing concept”.

Heike’s story, The Catharsis of a Crane, tackles issues of poverty and protest and was picked as one of four winners in the junior category. It impressed all four judges; Orwell Prize-winning author, Delia Jarrett-Macauley; Financial Times global education editor Andrew Jack; the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, Marianna Spring; and Forward Prize-winning poet, Will Harris.

Delia said The Catharsis of a Crane was “a beautiful story, inspired by an intriguing concept, cleverly linking origami and politics”.

Heike attends Enfield County School for Girls. The Catharsis of a Crane is available to read for free on The Orwell Foundation website, along with the other winners and runners up.

All the shortlisted writers were invited to The Orwell Youth Prize celebration day at University College London on Saturday, 8th July, where they took part in a creative writing workshop with the award-winning writer and poet Anthony Anaxagorou and performed their work, before receiving their prizes, including a copy of George Orwell’s collected essays, and an Orwell Youth Prize goody bag.

The winners and runners up will also be invited to join The Orwell Youth Fellows, a collective of young writers starting conversations and developing new writing that is responsive to our changing world – and supporting other young people to engage with the prize.

Far more than just a prize, each year’s theme is inspired by the writings of George Orwell, while encouraging young people to think critically and creatively about the world around them and issues which matter today. The programme is free to enter and participants can submit writing in any form.

Read Heike’s story on The Orwell Youth Prize website:
Visit orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-youth-prize/2023-shortlist/heike-ghandi-the-catharsis-of-a-crane

Dispatch readers are welcome to nominate their own ‘Edmonton Youth Hero’ – an inspirational young person (16 or under) from Edmonton who has made a valuable contribution to their local community. Simply email your nomination to [email protected]

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.