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The deadline for entries for Polka's Writing the World - China 2008 story-writing competition has now passed, but read on for more information about future Writing the World competitions and to read acclaimed children's writer Jamila Gavin's China-inspired story.

In January 2008 Polka Theatre launched a story-writing competition for children of primary school age. Over the next five years, we want children to write short stories inspired by different parts of the world. For this year, the focus is on China. We have been delighted to receive over 300 entries! Please check back in early 2009 for details on entering next year's competition.

The deadline for entries was Friday 5 April, 2008. The winning stories will be announced at Polka as part of a special China Family Fun Day on Saturday 14 June. On this day you can watch a performance of a promenade-style show, Monkey! A Tale from China, as well as taking part in some FREE drop-in activities, hearing Jamila Gavin's story and the winning Writing the World entries performed live on Polka's stage at 4.30pm! To book your free tickets for the story performance please call the Box Office on 020 8543 4888.

About the Writing the World - China 2008 competition

Polka asked primary age children to write a story that was in some way inspired by China. It might be set in China, either now or in the past. It might have a character in it who is Chinese, or who has been to China, or is interested in China. It might involve an object or photograph from China. It's up to you to decide on the connection.

There were three age categories:
Years 1 & 2: who had to create a storyboard of 6 pictures, with a caption underneath each one.

Years 3 & 4: who had to write a short story of up to 500 words.

Years 5 & 6: who had write a short story of up to 1000 words.

The winning entrants in each age category will each win £25 of book tokens. Their stories will be performed by professional actors at Polka Theatre on Saturday 14th June 2008, and then posted on Polka's website.

To help children to find out more about China we created a resources page and set up an exchange with a school in China.

Jamila Gavin's China-Themed Story

While children were writing their stories to enter the competition, Polka commissioned acclaimed children's writer Jamila Gavin to come up with top tips to inspire others and to write a 1000-word story of her own. Click here to read Jamila's top tips page, to see some of her early ideas and a first draft of her story. This is her finished China-themed story:-

Deep in the valley was a hidden lake. It was fed by several streams which ran down from the surrounding mountains, gathering at the bottom of a steep canyon into a cold, crystal clear stretch of water. Soo Yin discovered it one day.
On the far side of the lake, somewhere beyond a wood of silver birch, must have been a school for actors, because children would come down to the shore to practise their singing and dancing. How she loved watching them perform amazing acrobatics, leaping on each other’s shoulders, turning cartwheels, or doing beautiful graceful movements which told a story.  And when they sang, Soo Yin would join in, their voices echoing across the lake among the floating lilies, and the shivering reeds.
Soo Yin loved to copy what the children did, singing their songs and trying to learn their acrobatic tricks.
Sometimes, she wandered along the shore collecting pebbles suitable for stone skipping.  One day, she spotted a stone which seemed perfect.  Soo Yin positioned herself on the shore. Today, the lake was as still as a lady’s hand mirror, with the sun glancing across its surface, gold and grey, silver and green, glimmering in the depths below.
She twisted her body right round for extra power, drew back her arm and spun forwards, expelling the stone with all her force. It skipped:  one, two… three, four, five….six….seven, eight…“NINE!” she yelled with triumph. “NINE skips.  Just wait till I tell everyone!”
She was about to choose another when she noticed a vast shape looming beneath the water. A huge fish with golden scales, and a gleaming white as a pearl belly, swam towards her. Soo Yin backed away, terrified of its gaping mouth, and the menacing-looking feelers which dangled on either side of its jaws. It was the biggest carp she’d ever seen.
The fish came so close, its belly brushed the sandy bottom before it rested, looking at her through the clear water with strange green eyes.
A century could have passed, or just an instant, when a pebble slid from the fish’s mouth and began to sink in a slow, wavering descent. Then the carp flicked its tail and, without even breaking the surface, plunged into the depths and was lost from sight.
As swift as a serpent, Soo Yin plunged her hand into the water and grasped the stone.  She was amazed. It was her stone – the one which had skipped nine times.
She studied it, and could see it wasn’t an ordinary stone, but a precious jade; creamy and translucent, with a golden glow. It was as if she held the very soul of the golden carp who had brought it back to her.
With a shock, she realised she had forgotten the time. It would be dark before she got home.
Somehow, no one seemed to have noticed how late she was. Murmuring voices drew her to the temple where she found everyone had gathered. Among flickering braziers and flares, the faces of the villagers were etched with anxiety. They were talking about a dam; how their valley was to be flooded, all their houses drowned, and everything – their plum and cherry orchards, their beanfields and barley crops, and even their little temple surrounded by peach trees – all were to be submerged in a vast lake. “It’s progress!” declared an official who was not from their village.
“Where will we go? What shall we do?” wailed the villagers.
“The government will pay you,” said the man. But no one believed him.
Later, as Soo Yin lay down on her mat to sleep, she listened to Grandmother moving about in the darkness muttering; “What am I to do with the girl? She’ll be nothing but a hindrance. I can go to my son, Chi, in the city. He’ll take me in – but not with this girl. What did I do to anger my ancestors, that they should have cursed him with a female baby?”
Tears wet Soo Yin’s cheeks. She was a burden. Even her parents hadn’t wanted her. They had left her with grandmother soon after she was born, and gone to the city promising to send money back. But they never did.
Before dawn, Soo Yin, crept away and ran to her secret lake.  If what the man had said was true, her lake would disappear under the vast dam they were going to build. She could hardly bear the thought.
“Where are you, golden carp?” she whispered, staring at the wind drifting across the surface of the lake.
She heard singing.  The voice curled across the waters, merging with the awakening curlews, and the thrushes.
Sunbeams sparkled on the water. A figure stood on the far side of the lake,  among the reeds; a slender young woman in a long silken dress embroidered with gold, her hands covered by sleeves floating like mists around her wrists, and her long unpinned hair blowing about her face like clouds.
Soo Yin stared as if mesmerised. That’s me. That’s who I want to be. The woman turned. Even from that distance, their eyes met. The beautiful lady raised her hand and beckoned, then walked away along a path through the birches.
What madness possessed her? Soo Yin plunged into the icy lake and began to swim.  Not only was the water freezing, but the other side of the lake looked farther with every stroke she made. Her clothes filled with water and began to drag her under.
Just when she thought she must surely drown, she felt something glide under her. It was the smooth strength of the golden carp. She clasped her arms around its slippery neck, and was carried to the far shore.
All day, she dried her clothes and, when she was dressed, looked back at her secret lake for the last time. She thought she glimpsed a golden glint of scales darting beneath the water. She took the jade from her pocket and kissed it, then turned to follow the path the lady had taken.
She followed it on and on till the ground dipped into a hollow below, and she saw long low red-tiled roofs, and heard the sound of children singing.