Children’s Short Story Competition

We’re looking for short stories of up to 750 words that feature a woodland creature or creatures

Yorkshire Festival of Story in partnership with North Yorkshire County Council and Settle Community Library are delighted to announce the launch of our fantastic children’s story competition judged by award-winning writer, Joanne Harris!

We want to celebrate the magic and wonder of the natural world by encouraging young writers aged 7-12 years old to let their imaginations run wild and create a new short story that features a woodland creature or creatures.  It will provide a fun and interactive way for children either at home or school to engage with the natural world and pave the way for a brighter future for the planet, inspired by stories of change and collaboration.

Enter here: https://settlestories.typeform.com/storycomp22

What are the prizes?

Alongside a personalised response to you, story winners will have a tree planted in our Story Wood. Each tree will have a QR code linking to winning stories. These stories will be read by a professional storyteller. Let’s take a look at the prizes in more detail:

1st place

  • £100 book token
  • Tree planted in our Story Wood with a QR code linking to your story
  • A personalised response to your story by Joanne Harris

2nd place

  • £50 book token
  • Tree planted in our Story Wood with a QR code linking to your story
  • A personalised response to your story by Joanne Harris

3rd place

  • £30 book token
  • Tree planted in our Story Wood with a QR code linking to your story
  • A personalised response to your story by Joanne Harris

3 runners-up will receive:

  • A personalised response to your story by Joanne Harris
  • Tree planted in our Story Wood with a QR code linking to your story

All eligible entrants will receive a certificate. The winning school will also receive 8 free memberships to our online learning platform Storyversity for their teachers.

To enter you must be between 7-12 years old and live in the UK.

The winners will be announced by Joanne Harris at a free, online live event at Yorkshire Festival of Story on Saturday 26th November at 7PM (more details soon).

How you can WIN:

We are looking for stories that have:

  • Imaginative ideas
  • An exciting plot
  • Engaging language
  • Strong, relatable characters
  • Are about or are inspired by woodland creatures
  • Under 750 words (longer doesn’t mean better)
  • Written by a child between the ages of 7-12 years old who lives in the UK

Resource Pack

We’ve created a resource pack to help teachers, librarians, parents and guardians to inspire young people and develop their writing skills.

Download the resource pack here

Entries must be submitted by 6pm on the 9th October 2022. Please ensure your entries are typed as per the Terms & Conditions. When you upload your file please make sure it is saved with your story name followed by the author e.g. “Chocolat by Joanne Harris”.

All entries must be submitted online using the form here: https://settlestories.typeform.com/storycomp22

Please make sure you’ve read the Terms and Conditions Children’s Story Competition 2022 before entering.

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