What creative worlds can your pen bring to life? South African schoolchildren aged 6-18 are invited to enter the annual Kingsmead Young Writers’ Competition (YWC) 2025.
Encouraging a culture of reading and writing, the competition is in its fourth year and is growing from strength to strength. Last year saw over 600 entries from around the country!
Kingsmead College is a leading girls’ school in Johannesburg with a commitment to the promotion of literacy across all age groups and cultures. Launched in 2022, the YWC aims to provide a platform for young South Africans to explore different genres and styles with feedback from professional writers and publishers.
“Story telling is at the heart of human experience, promoting empathy, connection and understanding,” says YWC organiser Corinne Rosmarin. “Writing and thinking creatively also builds skills like imagination, planning, and problem solving, which encourage a flexible and open mindset.” According to Forbes magazine, 70% of employers rate creative thinking as the most in-demand skill today.
Writing is also a wonderful outlet for young people to share their thoughts, feelings and perspective of the world around them. Advice for young entrants is to read books to find the subjects and writing style they enjoy. “If you want to write an adventure book, read adventure stories,” says Rosmarin. “Remember the idea is just the beginning. Stories need good characters, great beginnings, exciting middles and dramatic endings, so work on your tiny seed of inspiration to write a story that will capture and entertain us.
This year’s theme calls on young writers to submit an original creative short story inspired by one of these linked words: Seeds Roots Bloom Grow
Each age group has a different word count, ranging from: 6–7-year-olds, 8–9-year-olds, 10–12-year-olds, 13–15-year-olds and 16–18-year-olds. Prizes for the winning entry in each age group include cash prizes from Standard Bank Wealth and Investment, book vouchers from Exclusive Books, feedback from the judges and publication in an online eBook.
“Now in its fourth year, this competition has grown from strength to strength which highlights the need and hunger for creativity amongst schoolchildren. I would urge all schools, libraries and teachers to promote this competition,” says Alex Bouche, Director of the Kingsmead Book Fair. “It is with a love of reading and writing that we can change the trajectory of literacy within the South African context.”
Winners will be announced on 19th May 2025, just before Kingsmead College’s thirteenth Book Fair on 24 May 2025. Over the years, the Kingsmead Book Fair has become a vital and popular event on South Africa’s literary calendar with a packed programme of local and international authors.
The KBF Young Writers’ Competition opens on February 3rd 2025 and closes at 8PM/ 20H00 on March 31st 2025.
Entries can be found on the Kingsmead Book Fair website at https://kingsmead.co.za/bookfair/young-writers-comp/