Winners announced of Wicked Young Writers' Award

The winners of the 2015 Wicked Young Writers' Award have been announced during a ceremony at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, the home of Wicked, involving 120 shortlisted finalists.

Now in its fifth year, the award "encourages young people aged 5 to 25 years old to use writing as a means of expressing themselves, celebrating the production's themes and values of looking at life in a different way."

Each year, thousands of entries are received across five age categories, with the addition in 2015 of the Sugarscape Fan Fiction Award, a brand new category created by the entertainment website to celebrate the growing genre of fan fiction amongst young people.

The ceremony was hosted by Wicked stars Emma Hatton (Elphaba) and Savannah Stevenson (Glinda), with prizes presented by award judge Cressida Cowell, author of the How to Train Your Dragon books.

The winners were revealed as: Harry Sample (age 6) from Cambridge for his story Wacky Tuesday; Kiersten Johnson (age 10) from London for her poem King Henry's Wives; Anoushka Das (age 14) from Guildford, for her story The Orphanage; Aashna Nithianandan (age 17) from Wimbledon, London for her piece To My Future Daughter; and Luke Thomas (age 20) from London, winner of the Gregory Maguire Award for 18-25 year olds for The Starlight Staircase.

The winner of the Sugarscape Fan Fiction award was Evie Buller (age 14) from Northamptonshire, for The Hunger Games – Alternative Ending.

Cressida Cowell said: "These stories and poems address vital concerns, the really big questions. War, mental illness, love and the forging of identity are just a few of the issues explored with clarity and imagination. As a judge, I was looking to be moved, amused, stimulated and entertained, and I was not disappointed."