A UTTOXETER school pupil has been invited to attend a live recording of a major national radio show after reaching the finals of a short story competition.
Talented 12-year-old Olivia Norton entered the Chris Evans Breakfast Show 500 Words Short Story Competition earlier this year and out of 30,000 entries her story has been chosen in the top 25 of her age group.
It means the Oldfields Hall Middle School student has been invited by the BBC to stay in Hereford on the night of Thursday, June 2 so she and her mum can attend the Chris Evans Breakfast Show live from the Hay-on-Wye Book Festival the following morning.
The five winners of the competition will be announced during the show and Olivia will be rubbing shoulders with celebrity judges including David Walliams and famed children’s author Jacqueline Wilson.
Olivia, of Smithfield Road, told the Advertiser said she was proud to have got so far and she was particularly excited about meeting the award-winning author as she is a big fan.
She said: “I am a huge fan of Jacqueline Wilson I have read all of her books. I heard about the competition in school and my friend gave it to me but I wasn’t going to enter.
“I just came back home that night and typed it out in about 10 minutes and sent it in. I was surprised to find I got through.
“I showed my mum the letter saying I had made it and it was like I had won an Oscar or something!” Olivia admitted she wasn’t a regular listener to the Radio Two breakfast show but one member of her family was.
“My Nan listens to it”, she said.
Despite an obvious talent for the written word Olivia said she doesn’t dream of being an author rather wanting to show her talent in front of the camera.
She said: “I don’t really want to be a writer it is just something I enjoy doing in my spare time.
“I love acting and want to be an actor. When I did the story I was just saying a bunch of stuff from an acting point of view and turned it in to a story.
“I am looking forward to it. My mum is very proud.
I told her not to tell lots of people but she sent an email to everyone we know!” Head teacher at Oldfields school Nick Brown added his congratulations to Olivia.
He said: “I think we are all very proud to have someone in the school who has had such a big achievement. We are all really pleased for her.”
