Posted on 19 July
83 Leeds College of Building (LCB) students’ short stories have been published in this year’s Young Writers anthology – ‘Fight or Flight – The Surge of Survival’.
Founded in 1991, Young Writers offers young people the opportunity to share their voices and imaginations through creative writing.
Their annual competition aims to encourage students of different ages to create something unique, with this year’s theme being ‘Fight or Flight’.
We visited several of our students published in the book to break the news and show them how their winning efforts looked in print.
Level 1 Carpentry students; Caden Nastyn (author of ‘Frightening’), Wilf Brown (author of ‘Here Comes the Guilt’) and Harvey Charlesworth (author of ‘Fight or Flight’), Level 1 Multi-Skills student Callum Thurlow (author of ‘Life or Bars’) and Carpentry apprentice Joshua Ball (author of ‘Fight or Flight’) were happy to pose for pictures.
Giving advice to next years’ applicants Joshua Ball jokingly warned that being a newly published writer unfortunately doesn’t come with instant fame and fortune.
Violence, mortality and morality were just some of the dark themes explored by our winning cohort.
Menna Bailey, Head of English, said: “to not only have our students published in this book, but to have the largest number of students represented by any college is a complete honour.
“We are always so happy to be recognised for our English and Maths achievements and that we now have 83 published authors within our ranks is fantastic. I’d like to take the opportunity to give a huge congratulations to all our students featured in the book – you should be so proud of yourselves.”
Alongside being the only further education college in the UK dedicated to construction and the built environment, LCB offers a variety of English qualifications for students, adults and apprentices that are delivered by subject specialist teachers.
‘Fight or Flight – The Surge of Survival’ was published by the Young Writers publishing house on 21 April 2025 and is available online.
Five of our published short stories:
FIGHT OR FLIGHT
Behind me, in the dark, was a hollow scream. Not just a scream, but a scream of fear.
As I turned my head, I closed my eyes. As I opened them, in-between, the derelict buildings crumbled like bones into dust. A small, frail old woman was stuck under a large, golden clock that had also fallen from the building.
As soon as I saw the helpless woman, I ran and tried to help.
However, it was hard, as the building was still falling.
With all my power, I pulled the clock, finally freeing the woman. The relief on her face was timeless.
Harvey Charlesworth (16)
FRIGHTENING
Darkness uncovered gloom. I stepped out of the house, and his hand was on me. I could see I carried on with my journey with a slight of nerves in my body. I was terrified.
I was overcoming a frightening snicker, which was as frightening as seeing ten lions circling around me. Nothing was stopping my fear. I moved and made my first step. Then I realised I made the wrong decision. My eyes witnessed a sharp, pointy knife directed at me.
My heart felt like it was about to pop.
Suddenly, I was speechless as the knife pushed inside. My body was on the floor.
Caden Nastyn (16)
HERE COMES THE GUILT
One day, in college, it was a bright day, actually nice for once. I was within an hour of finishing after a long day. I finally finished, and I exited through the main door and saw a strange man across the road. As I got closer, I saw that he was tormenting an injured pigeon. I decided to leave it, as I felt it wasn’t my business and there are plenty of pigeons in the world. As I was walking to the bus stop and I was debating whether to turn back or not, the guilt was hitting me.
Wilf Brown (16)
FIGHT OR FLIGHT
As I was walking about the dusty and abandoned gym, the door burst in. Police? Squatters? I wondered who it was.
Footsteps edged towards me coming up from the creaking staircase. They’d found me. I wondered if I was going to get caught.
Suddenly, my friend leapt out of hiding and booked it down the stairs but then suddenly got grabbed. Now I had no choice. Do I risk it all? Or do I run? I ran down to help my mate and defend him from whoever was down there. I punched the squatter in the face and then we ran.
Joshua Ball (17)
LIFE OR BARS
I didn’t know if I could do it. I was riding my bike around, chilling. Then, out of nowhere, I saw blue lights light up like New York city centre, and I was pushing the bike to the speed limit. Busting every corner at 50mph!
I was blowing it. Out of nowhere, I hit the corner at 60mph, slowed down a bit, then a kid about seven or eight jumped out, oblivious. And then it was hit him or hit the van beside me. A split decision and I chose hit the big red van, and hit it at 43mph.
Darkness fell.
Callum Thurlow (16)
Fancy yourself as a future published author? Come study with us and join our LCB family. Find a course that works for you right here.
