The judges were very impressed by this simple yet effective story of the inspiration behind the Statue of Liberty.
Sarah was thrilled with her prize and told us:
'I found out about this competition through a course tutor, and immediately knew I had to have a go. I toyed with so many ideas before settling with 'The Face', and all of them seemed too complicated. I decided to go back to basics as the subjects I thought up were much too obvious. I wanted to emphasize that beneath our nationalities we are all the same. I started researching things that were linked to France, that you wouldn't immediately connect, and I suddenly thought of the Statue of Liberty. There was so much mystery surrounding it's inspiration, I knew that a lot could be done with it. Some of the most interesting fiction is derived from real life, and as I found out more about Bartholdi and Isabella, the face, I knew that a story had to be hidden away somewhere.'

This story appealed to all the judges who commented that Caitlin had moved away from cliches of coffee and croissants and managed to evoke subtly the setting and atmosphere of this poignant story. Caitlin responded to the news of her win:
'Thank you very much for the email! I am absolutely delighted. Thank you so much for running the competition; it was such an amazing opportunity!'
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