Frome Festival Young Writers’ Competition

The Young Writer Competition is organised each year by Frome Writers’ Collective (FWC)
and open to young writers from 11 to 21 years of age who live or go to school or college in the BA, SP and SN postcode areas. Entries are invited of between 150 and 2000 words and a first prize of £50 awarded to the winners of both younger and older sections, plus prizes for runners-up.
The competition is free to enter, thanks to the generosity of Kerry Wilkinson, a bestselling
author who grew up in Frome, and is judged by Joffre White, author of Aura Boy and the
Frog series. Joffre is also a popular speaker in schools and a UK Patron of Reading.
The theme for this year’s competition was FLIGHT – a theme that was interpreted in many
ways and which inspired an impressive range of exciting short stories.
The prizegiving will take place at 1.30pm on Sunday 13 July at Frome’s Merlin Theatre.

The 2025 competition is now closed and the following writers’ stories have been shortlisted:

11-16s  

1. THE FLIGHT OF THE MIND ERIN DERBIDGE ST DUNSTAN’S SCHOOL
2. THE FLIGHT AYCEL SHALABY  HAYESFIELD GIRLS’ SCHOOL
3. SKYWARD BOUND ZELDA LING HAYESFIELD GIRLS’ SCHOOL
4. THE WINGS OF FOREVER BLYTHE SHAW THE WINGS OF FOREVER
5. THE FALL ASTRA COOK ST DUNSTAN’S SCHOOL
6. A FLIGHT OF PAPER CRANES ISABELLE O’BRIEN HAYESFIELD GIRLS’ SCHOOL

17-21s

1. HUMAN SINE SCOTT
   FIGHT OF FLIGHT NAOMI NGWOMPO