Once upon a time, there was an eager Student, who wanted to write the best story that could ever be written. Our Student longed to write magic. Deep magic. To write an epic tome to leave its readers spell-bound, surprised by wonder. To entice, excite, enchant and enthrall an entire generation of fresh young minds. To be a writer - nay, a prophet - of worlds in the past, worlds yet unseen, and worlds and dreams that are yet to come true.

All these, the Student daydreamed, could be mine... if only... if only... if only - What are you daydreaming about? Inevitably, the Teacher's sharp bark would haul the Student back to Reality. And oh yes, the upcoming Examinations. This happened day after dull day.

Then, one fateful day, a little mynah suddenly floated through the classroom window upon a sudden gust of wind that rattled the window panes. Looking piercingly at the Student, it twittered softly a sweet tune... a tune that was almost speech-like in comprehension. Transfixed by its bright-eyed, intelligent gaze, the Student spoke to the Mynah in hushed tones, "What are you here for?"

The Mynah made no reply, but it fluttered off again. In a few minutes, it returned with a scroll in its beak. Depositing it on the window-sill, the Mynah suddenly burbled, "Have you not always dreamed of writing a Great Story?"

Wide-eyed, the Student gasped. "Yes! Yes! But how do you know?"

The Mynah, with one of its little yellow legs, quickly kicked the scroll of paper onto the Student's desk and chirped these instructions: "Then just unroll this scroll, fill in the fields and send it away. Away! Away!" With that cry, as suddenly as it had come, it soared away on the wings of the wind, and was never seen again. "Away! Away..."

However, the Student didn't notice that strange little detail. In excitement, the Student quickly picked up the scroll from the desk, unfurled it excitedly with trembling fingers... and what the Student saw is shown below for you to see.

For you are that Student. Here, O now, is where your Quest for the Young Author Award begins.

Who better to judge the current cohort of budding young authors than their peers? All ten of this year’s YAA judges have impressive writing credentials of their own, with some of them having been published authors by the age of 11. Ranging from the ages of 13 to 18, our judges have experienced the joys and tribulations of authorship and are well-placed to assess the latest batch of Singapore’s young literary talent.