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 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! Launched in 2022, the Young Writers’ Competition aims to provide a platform for young South Africans to explore different genres and styles with feedback from professional writers and publishers.

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 and all schools, libraries and teachers are urged to promote the competition.

The KBF Young Writers’ Competition opens on February 3rd 2025 and closes at 8pm on March 31st 2025.

Winners will be announced on 19th May 2025.

Entries can be found on the Kingsmead Book Fair website at https://kingsmead.co.za/bookfair/young-writers-comp/