A GCSE pupil has won the chance to be a Leicester Mercury journalist for a day.

Nirma Muslim won the prize – which will see her work alongside the reporters in the St George Street newsroom – after writing a review of the Leicester Book of the Year 2002, (Un)arranged Marriage.

Nirma, (15), a student at Moat Community College, Leicester, said she was overjoyed at the news.

A delighted Nirma said: “I had to write about the book of the year award and picked out certain points about it that made it so unique. I like the fact that it was about Leicester and found the descriptions spot on.

“The difficult part was keeping it down to 150 words. I could have written a lot more. I didn’t really expect to win because I thought there would be so many competitors from different schools.”

Earlier in the summer, the Mercury teamed up with the city library service and the Excellence in Cities initiative to host a writing competition linked to the Book of the Year.

The book award went to Oadby author, Bali Rai, for (Un)arranged Marriage, which tells the story of a young Punjabi boy who is told by his family he is to marry a girl he has never met when he turns 17.

Students across the county and city were invited to write a newspaper article on any aspect of the award, with the winner getting the chance to be a Mercury journalist for a day.

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