A TEENAGE wordsmith has won a literary prize, but was too busy volunteering in Tanzania to pick it up.
Ellesmere Port Catholic High School sixth-former Maisie Linford, 17, flew out last Monday to help in the African country for three weeks.
The talented teenager should have been at the home of publisher Walker Books in London to collect her prize from children’s author Jacqueline Wilson.
Maisie’s younger sister, 13-year-old Stephanie stepped in to accept the Henrietta Branford award on her behalf.
Proud dad Gerry Linford, of Stanney Lane, Ellesmere Port, said: “She’s just glad to have won.
“The winning author last year of Walker Books’s other award wrote a paragraph of a short story and the young writers were encouraged to finish the story. There were hundreds of entries and they selected five stories.”
Maisie penned about 2,000 words to complete the tale and it was considered good enough to make it into the top five.
“It was a good read,” added Mr Linford.
Last year Action Transport Theatre staged a play written by Maisie titled Her True and Immortal Sister at Whitby Hall Studio Theatre. Maisie and sisters Stephanie and Lucy all starred in the production.
From September, Maisie will study English and drama at Goldsmiths -– University of London.
