VICTA Book Club

The Lions International Peace Essay Contest

This is an annual creative writing competition for vision impaired children aged 11 to 13. The contest asks you to express what peace means to you through writing, with a different theme every year. The winner is invited to a Lions International event and receives $5,000!

Both Dayzie and Erica entered the competition through VICTA won the National Finals, representing England with their essays in 2022 and 2023. Here’s what Erica had to say:

I chose to enter the Lions competition because I love writing and found the competition title interesting. I have loved the experience! When I found out that I had won the District Finals I felt elated as I never expected to do well. I would recommend having a go at the contest if you like writing because it is extremely fun and interesting, and prompts lots of careful thought and consideration. 

Enter the 2026 Contest >

Read more about Dayzie >

Be inspired by Beth O’Brien

Beth has a PhD in Creative Writing and is a successful author who specialises in retelling fairytales through the lens of disability. She is also vision impaired! Beth has just won the Carnegie Medal for Writing with her children’s book Wolf Siren, a feminist take on Little Red Riding Hood which centres a VI protagonist.

Discover Beth and Wolf Siren >

Roxanne

I enjoy reading as I’m not very good at concentrating on things like TV or film. I prefer a physical book because I find it more enjoyable reading this way. I’m currently reading Intruder by Freida McFadden. I have been enjoying Freida’s books over the last couple of months, although my favourite has been The Surrogate Mother. My favourite series is Boys of Tommen by Chloe Walsh because it made me laugh but also cry, and I have never read a series so quickly. When I was younger I loved Jacqueline Wilson, Enid Blyton, Jeff Kinney and J.K. Rowling.

Catherine

When I was in primary school my favourite author was Jacqueline Wilson. I must have read nearly all her books, and my favourite was the Hetty Feather series. Hetty Feather is about a little girl who grew up in an orphanage called a foundling hospital in the Victorian era. I like a mix of reading on Kindle or listening to audiobooks, and my favourite genres are historical fiction and period dramas. So far this year I’ve listened to Emma by Jane Austen, which is my favourite of her books. I’m currently reading All the Colours of the Dark on Kindle, which is a thriller by Chris Whitaker.

Luke

I’m currently reading Michael Connelly’s A Darkness More Than Night, the tenth in the Harry Bosch series. It is set in the late nineties/early 00’s. Bosch is an LA detective who uses questionable moral and ethical techniques to solve murders. This particular novel is quite tensely written, as Bosch himself is this time the one under suspicion.

Emily

Books are amazing and I love how they ignite your imagination! I’m not a fast reader and I often have to read the same paragraph or page twice to take it in. However, I’ve learnt that it doesn’t matter! Books are to be enjoyed at your own pace. A couple of my favourite books are The God of Small Things and To Kill a Mockingbird – this book by Harper Lee is just a classic. I also love children’s books and I don’t think I’ll ever grow out of that. There are just so many brilliant stories, with fun rhymes and characters, and I get emotional at the heart-felt sentiments. The Smartest Giant in Town is a favourite for that reason! At the moment I am reading Lessons in Chemistry, I’m only a few chapters in but I’m hooked on the characters and looking forward to following them to see where the story goes!

Kim

I’m currently reading The Guest List by Lucy Foley, which is a thriller/’whodunit’ about a wedding set on an Irish island. I picked it up in paperback as I still love reading this way! One of my favourite reads, but an unusual style for me, was Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, a military science fiction about aging, humanity and the morality of war, but still humorous too. For my grandkids, I always loved the Julia Donaldson books when they were small – A Squash and A Squeeze and The Gruffalo were my favourites. Rosie has just turned 6 and is loving Rabbit and Bear by Julian Gough and Tim Field. Harrison who is 9 is a reluctant reader, but is enjoying Jamie Smart’s Monkey vs Bunny series, which are a comic book style. He has even been inspired to start writing his own comics now!

Tiff

My love of reading started when I was a child; distinct memories of bed-time stories, Saturday trips to the local library with my Dad and completing the Princess Diaries collection by Meg Abbott as a teenager. My relationship with reading ebbs and flows – sometimes I can read one book after another and sometimes I go months in between reading. I am a very stubborn reader though – I can’t give up on a book even if I’m not enjoying it! I love a murder mystery, a good old ‘whodunnit’. It started with reading Agatha Christie’s Poirot series, a little Sherlock Holmes, and now more recent series such as Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club. My books come from charity shops, family and friends, and I have a habit of swapping books on community bookshelves in train and bus stations. I have quite a few and my family have been trying to convert me to a Kindle for many years to preserve shelf space…they may need to try for a little longer. I’m currently reading Dead in Devon by Stephanie Austin.