Among the hundreds of young people who entered, two local children have been shortlisted for the 5th annual Young Muslim Writers Award.

The two are among forty young writers whose poetry and short stories were the standout entries this year. Their submissions have been assessed by an internationally renowned panel of judges including Carnegie Medal winner Tim Bowler, novelist and poet Louis de Bernières and poet, broadcaster and playwright Gillian Clarke.

De Bernières and Bowler will be presenting trophies to the winners at the awards ceremony alongside an exciting line-up of performers.

Hawwa Salim, aged seven, is in the Key Stage One Poetry category and attends Grove Road Primary School in Hounslow . Salim is competing against four other children in her category with her poem, "My Mother".

Maryam Sheikh, aged six, is in the Key Stage One Short Story category, and is home schooled from her house in Alperton, Brent . Skeikh is competing against four other children in her category with the short story, "The Party and the Spider".

Children's author, and one of the judges of the competition, Neil Arksey said: "Each of these writers shows terrific promise and talent. They should all be very proud of their achievement in being selected for the award."

Chairman of Muslim Hands, Syed Lakhte Hassanain, said: "Time and again young writers impress us beyond measure with their creativity and writing talent. The selection process is always an incredibly enjoyable yet challenging stage of the competition as the quality of writing is continuously improving.

"This proves that through nurturing the aspirations and celebrating the achievements of young people we can help create an environment where they can flourish. This is the philosophy which drives our UK community development work in youth empowerment, poverty alleviation, ex-offender rehabilitation and women's leadership programmes."

The winner will be announced on Saturday December 5 at the Muslim Hands ' annual ceremony celebrating literary talent. The ceremony will be broadcast on Islam Channel.