A first time author from Balham is celebrating winning top prize at the Du Maurier Festival.
Juliet Sellars, a graphic designers, joined a Chalk the Sun creative writing course for beginners in January.
Four months later her very first short story has won first prize at a literary competition in Cornwall.
The competition is part of an annual arts festival in Fowey, Cornwall, to commemorate Daphne Du Maurier, a Cornish writer.
Speaking of her win Miss Sellars said: "I was absolutely thrilled to learn I had won.
"It was a story I had begun in my first week of the ‘Get Started, Keep Going’ Creative writing course with Chalk the Sun.
"My teacher Ardella Jones, pushed me from the start, encouraging, editing and asking for rewrite after rewrite but it paid off and I can only thank her for being so supportive and inspiring.
"The prize money is a bonus, it's getting the chance to read my story in such illustrious company that is really exciting."
Juliet's story 'The Rendezvous', a dark and mysterious tale is set in Cornwall, it can be read at chalkthesun.co.uk/juliet-sellars-2
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