Good afternoon everybody and welcome to the 500 Words Final in the Buckingham Palace Ballroom!
It is particularly appropriate that the Final is taking place here, because since the 1800s, many of our country’s greatest authors have come to these rooms to receive honours and awards for their contribution to literature. It was here, for example, that the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was made a knight of the realm in 1902 by my husband’s great-great-grandfather, King Edward VII. Many others have followed in his footsteps and been celebrated for their talents on this very spot: JRR Tolkein, Penelope Lively, Philip Pullman, Bernardine Evaristo, Jacqueline Wilson and many others have all walked along this red carpet towards the dais. Other authors, just as illustrious, have been to Windsor Castle (where we had the last 500 Words) for their Investitures... including you, Sir Lenny, and the literary hero, Paddington himself, who so poignantly had tea there with the late Queen Elizabeth II not so long ago.
And now it is our turn to say hats off to all of YOU, with or without a marmalade sandwich underneath them! You are here for the same reason that geniuses like Quentin Blake and Julia Donaldson were invited to the Palace – because each one of you is a brilliant writer, with the power to conjure magic with your pens and lead us on escapades with your keyboards. And all in just 500 Words!
In the three years that we have been without this wonderful competition, I think we have realised how much we have missed it. Over the years, it has actually turned into half a billion words that have been written, typed, scribbled and tumbled onto thousands of pages by children across the UK, read by an army of volunteers and then sent to Oxford University Press to form the biggest collection of children’s writing in the world. That means that between you, you have created more than a million stories of thought-provoking adventure for future generations to study and enjoy. Thank you to everybody who has taken part in 500 Words – it is a huge pleasure to have you back!
Now it’s time to find out who our winners are... So let me close by offering our young writers advice from two other people who have stood where you are standing now.
First, Michael Morpurgo who said, “Write because you love it and not because it is something that you think you should do”. And if that doesn’t work, try applying wisdom from the late, great Agatha Christie: “The best time to plan a book is when you’re doing the dishes”.
The best of British luck to you all!
