Two groups of school children from Southern Queensland, braced with just their lunchboxes and imaginations took to The Lighthouse Toowoomba, the brand-new home of creativity and dedicated youth writing centre in the region. The writing groups were there for a special free workshop, with the challenge to Write a Book in a Day!

Each group in a workshop inspired setting, were given randomly selected parameters and five random words to be included in their stories, with the teams tasked with working together to write a book in less than 12 hours to be given to a child in hospital.

Emma Mactaggart – Founder and Creative Director at Boogie Books, creator and driver of the Child Writes programme, publisher and children’s writer is passionate about empowering children and all writers through creativity. Emma, who has also a longstanding supporter through volunteering as a Reader for Write a Book in a Day for many years and as a guest judge for the competition in 2019 – has a true passion for the competition.

Watch the budding writers take on the writing challenge of the year and hear what makes the competition so unique and inspiring to writers in so many ways – whether it be illustration, character creation or coming together as a team to do something important – raising awareness, vital funds for children’s cancer research and providing joy through their writing to a child in hospital.