Talking about his story, Atlas Weyland Eden said: “In reality, a wordsmith refers to a skilful writer, but for me the term conjured images of smoke and flame and splintered bones. It raised questions: What tools do you need to forge a word? What type of smithy? Who would possess the power to craft them — and why? I first wrote ‘The Wordsmith’ when I was fourteen, but the competition I entered it into shut down during COVID and never reopened. When I saw the BBC Young Writers’ Award, I remembered the story and gave it a dust. It had a lot of potential, but it was half-baked. I tried to rewrite it… and made it worse. In the end, I had to edit it gently, removing sections and adding others, while preserving the initial magic that made it shine.”
