Tamworth teenager a published author

The McCarthy Catholic College student entered a short story into The Hope Prize – a writing competition – and was shocked and surprised with the result.

The local teen was named the Young Writer winner for her short story; Colours which has been published in the new book Hope: An Anthology, released this week.

Ellie’s story was an emotional one, which captured the journey of a girl named Grace, who cares for her dad who is vision impaired.

It struck a chord with the esteemed judging panel of Cate Blanchett, Kate Grenville and Quentin Bryce.

“I really like writing .. at the moment I am writing a lot through all genres to expand a bit and get a bit of experience,” The young author told The Leader

“I saw an ad for The Hope Prize somewhere and I thought it might be a good experience and a good way to enter something. I never really expected to hear back.”

Ellie said the theme for the prize was about resilience and it was from there the concept of her story was formed, which she believed was one not many people would have thought of before.

“My story was about a girl called Grace, who cares for her dad who is blind and her mum is dead,” she said.

“The subject for the competition was resilience and through hardship and I thought it would be a good idea to do something that’s not so obvious and that you don’t see every day.”

The three and a half thousand word piece was published alongside other prize winners, with Ellie and her mum Jule heading down to Melbourne for the launch, this weekend. 

“I was really excited, because I’d forgotten all about it and then we got a phone call.

“It’s surreal, it’s a bit strange,” she said of being a published author.

The high school student said she hopes to continue writing into the future.