The winning entry in a new competition introduced in honour of the late Daphne Peters, was announced at the landmark 950th meeting of Ripon Writers’ Group.
The group was set up more than 40 years ago by the internationally-famous children’s author and poet, whose work was published under her maiden name Daphne Lister
Group secretary and former chair, Maggie Cobbett, told the Stray Ferret:
“As we reached another milestone, it seemed a fitting occasion to announce the first winner of our Writing for Children competition, inaugurated in memory of Daphne.”
She added:
“Our adjudicator was Claire Thompson, outreach librarian for Ripon and Pateley Bridge, who has a special interest in children’s literature and literacy, who said that she had thoroughly enjoyed reading the entries.
“The pieces submitted had been so diverse that it had been difficult to compare them, but she selected Ros Swaney’s Dusty the Cupboard Monster as the winner, with second place going to Pip’s Story by Ella Benigno and St Wilfrid written by Peter Page in third.”
Last week’s meeting was also the final one for writers’ group chair and award-winning author Ian Gouge, before he and his family move to Lincolnshire and attendees thanked him for his significant input to the group’s programme.
