Search for storytellers

Are you 16 or 17 or do you have memories of life at this often challenging age? If so, you may be interested in entering a creative writing competition being run by The Children’s Society as part of our charity’s Seriously Awkward campaign.

The campaign aims to improve life for vulnerable 16 and 17-year-olds by securing more sustained help for them as they move into adulthood with issues like mental health, housing and access to employment.

For the competition, run in partnership with Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House, we are looking for fictional stories by unpublished writers of up to 2,000 words about this awkward age, with categories for people aged 16 to 25 and 26 and over.

Writing experts including international best-selling author Emma Healey, who has just published her second novel, Whistle in the Dark, will judge the competition, and the winners will be offered advice and feedback by top literary agencies Darley Anderson and David Higham Associates.

Your story can highlight the ups and downs of this age, be in any fiction genre and written from any perspective. Could it be about a 16-year-old making daunting decisions about their future, or falling in love and making new friends at 17? A parent terrified about their child leaving home? Or a social worker trying to protect a young person from harm?

Please visit www.childrenssociety.org.uk/writing to find out more and enter by August 31. Good luck!