A book of short stories, poems and illustrations by Wexford Children will capture a unique view of an historical period, according to publishers Red Books Press. "A Little Bit of Magic: Stories by Children of Wexford in Lockdown" will be launched at 3pm on Sunday at the 50th Annual Wexford Book and Collectors Fair in the Talbot Hotel.
The book contains submissions by over fifty Wexford children, aged between 5 and 16, originally collected during the Great Wexford Short Story Competition, a lockdown inspired endeavour which ran for fourteen weeks in 2020.
The book features work by the following children;
Martha O' Connor-Cussen
Muireann McCrabbe
Aoife Harris
Shane Meleady
Max Rapple
Eleanor Gahan
Sean Gahan
Caoimhe Hobson
Jane Rothwell
Meabh Byrne
Ciara Byrne
Aoife Murphy
Emmet Hobson
Mia Bourke-Delaney
Shannon Wildes
Adam Deacon
Noah O Connor
Leila Haughian
Jude Dickson
Hannah Nolan
Nathan Carroll
Katie Nolan
Conor Healy
Ella Gallagher
Roisin Hensman
Lily Walsh
Lily Doyle
Anna McEvoy
Keelin Scallan
Dannielle O' Neill
Donagh Haughian
Maeve Arrigan
Aidan Furlong
John Donohoe
Mia D'Arcy
Ava Buttle
Evie Bolger
Ollie Fortune
Michael Mercer
Thomas O Brien
Diarmuid Haughian
Kitty Doran
Evelyn Long
Holly Lovelace
Aine O Neill
Christopher Taylor Walsh
Laila Nugent
Pete Mythen
Finley Anderson
Ben O' Reilly
Olivia O' Reilly
Ryan Harpur
Oskar Pitwon
Thomas Pitwon
Red Books were delighted to team up with the delightful and ever generous Aedin Hassett from Browne Fire Protection in 2020 during the dark days of the first Covid lockdown to offer children a creative outlet. We were blown away by the quality of writing and ideas, so we teamed up again with Brownes, Red Books Press, Wexford artist Rachell Druett, Practical Printers, the Wexford Book & Collectors Fair and Cllr Tom Forde to bring these stories to print.
The book is expected to sell out within a few days of the launch due to incredible pre-order interest.
Red Books Press has already confirmed that this is only the first move in a much larger project that will seek to build a young writers community in the South East, and will include further publications and events.