LAUNCESTON student Tanisha Nalu compassionately drew on the experiences of children living in war zones to write her entry for the inaugural Jean Hearn St Giles Writing for Peace competition.
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The 12-year-old was rewarded for her effort with the competition's overall prize and an iPad mini at a children's peace party at St Giles on Friday.
A pleased Tanisha explained that her entry followed the story of a young girl overwhelmed by war who used her voice to call for peace.
"I wasn't really actually talking about the story of my life, I was doing an example of someone's life," she said.
"[Peace is] everyone together and sharing the same ideas."
Prize co-ordinator Lucy Millwood said judges looked at a wide variety of entries in the first-time competition.
The 300 entrants were whittled down to 50 finalists, all of whom were invited to attend Friday's celebration.
"A lot of the stories really came from the heart," she said.
Friday marked day one of the Community Festival for Peace.
■The event continues until Sunday. For a full list of events, visit tamarcommunity peace.org.au/.
