A YOUNG wordsmith is in the running to win a national award for her prowess at short story writing.

Alara Chaudhery, from Slough, has been shortlisted in the Young Muslim Writers Awards 2015 in the Key Stage 3 Short Story category for 11 to 14-year-olds.

The youngster was nominated for her short story entitled Falling is Dangerous.

Alara is up against four other youngsters in her category of the competition and will find out how she has done on Saturday, December 5, at a ceremony where award-winning author Louis de Bernières, who wrote Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, and poet, broadcaster and playwright Tim Bowler will present trophies to the winners of the categories in the competition.

The competition is run by the international aid charity Muslim Hands in association with the Yusuf Islam Foundation, which operates in education, community development and philanthropy projects.

Syed Lakhte Hassanain, chairman of Muslim Hands, said: “Time and again young writers impress us beyond measure with their creativity and writing talent.

“The selection process is always an incredibly enjoyable yet challenging stage of the competition as the quality of writing is continuously improving.

“This proves that through nurturing the aspirations and celebrating the achievements of young people we can help create an environment where they can flourish.

“This is the philosophy which drives our UK community development work in youth empowerment, poverty alleviation, ex-offender rehabilitation and women’s leadership programmes.”

Overall, from hundreds of entries submitted to the Young Muslim Writers Awards 2015 contest, 40 school age children whose poetry and short stories were the standout entries this year have now been shortlisted in eight age categories.

The awards ceremony on Saturday, December 5, will also be broadcast on satellite TV network Islam Channel.

For more information about the competition, go to https://ymwa.org.uk/