A BUDDING author from Wisbech Grammar School has won a literary prize for a short story about a Fenland man caught up in the tragedy of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks.
Eden Cooper, 12, triumphed in the 2012 John Gordon short story competition with her tale And I cried for my Daddy.
The youngster won high praise from judge Simon Pitt, a former Wisbech Grammar School student who read English at Cambridge University and now works as the BBC’s Software Manager.
He said: “I was touched with the emotion and the sophisticated handling of such a sensitive event.
“It’s a refined piece, produced with real tenderness and a sense of truth that I found hard to believe didn’t come from experience.”
The school contest, which is now in its third year, is open to all students in Year 7.
It is named after author and grammar school old boy John Gordon, who has written 15 fantasy novels, four short story collections, more than 50 short stories and a teenage memoir.
Eden, who was presented with a book token and a certificate after her win, said: “The story was about 9/11 and someone from the Fens who died in that incident.
“I was surprised and pleased when I heard that I had won.”
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