Deadline: March 28, 2022.

Do you have an idea for a short story? The 2022 BBC Young Writers’ Award is open for submissions

Now in its eighth year, the BBC Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University invites all young people in the UK aged between 14-18 years to submit stories of up to 1,000 words.

The shortlist for the BBC Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University will be announced on Radio 1’s Life Hacks from 4pm on Sunday 18th September 2022.

ELIGIBILITY

1. The BBC Young Writers’ Award is open to UK residents, including residents of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, aged 14 to 18 years-old on the submission deadline.
2. Proof of identity and eligibility may be requested. Entries must be submitted by the writer, with an adult’s permission (i.e. parent, guardian or teacher) if the writer is under 16 years of age.
3. Writers can only enter individually and not as part of a writing team.
4. The story must not be more than one thousand (1,000) words. There is no lower word limit but the entry needs to be a story.
5. The story must be an original piece of fiction.
6. The story entered must either be unpublished; or be first published in print or scheduled for publication/broadcast after 1 January 2021.

BENEFITS

1. There will be five writers shortlisted for the BBC Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University.
2. The five shortlisted stories are narrated by an actor and recorded for an exclusive broadcast on BBC.
3. The stories are also published in an exclusive anthology dedicated to the Award.
4. The five shortlisted writers are invited to take part in a creative writing workshop with a leading writer and a tour of BBC Broadcasting House, central London, followed by the Award ceremony which is broadcast live from the Radio 4’s flagship arts programme, Front Row.
5. The five shortlisted writers will have the opportunity at the awards ceremony to meet leading writers, publishers, agents and broadcasters.
6. Travel, accommodation, refreshments and special assistance as required are provided for each of the five shortlisted writers and an accompanying adult. 

JUDGING CRITERIA

 Entries are judged on the following guidelines:

1. Quality of writing
2. Originality, imagination and creativity
3. Sentence structure and language
4. Writer’s ability to tell a story, capture the reader and hold their attention.

OFFICIAL LINK