2017 Henrietta Branford Writing Competition

Call for entries: 2017 Henrietta Branford Writing Competition

For young people who enjoy writing stories!

Finish a story started by Branford Boase Award winner Horatio Clare

The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition, the annual competition for young people which runs in conjunction with the Branford Boase Award, is now open.

The Branford Boase Award recognises a debut children’s author and their editor and was set up in memory of the outstanding children’s writer Henrietta Branford and the gifted editor, Wendy Boase, Editorial Director of Walker Books. They both died of cancer in 1999. 

The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition aims to find and encourage writers of the future, something Henrietta Branford was always keen to do.

‘The night we left was wild, clouds dashing across the moon and trees rocking and shushing in a wind so strong is seemed to make the stars blink and spin...’

The 2017 competition is open now and anyone under the age of 19 can enter. Entrants are invited to complete a story begun by last year’s winner, author ofAubrey and the Terrible Yoot, Horatio Clare.

The story should be no longer than 1000 words, must follow on from the starter paragraph, and have a title. All entrants must live in the UK and be under 19 years of age. Entries will be judged by Prue Goodwin, consultant and lecturer in children’s literature. She says: ‘We are looking for stories that keep the reader wanting to know what is going to happen from beginning to end, are imaginative and unpredictable, and are written with a genuine reader in mind’.

Six winners will be invited to attend the Branford Boase Award celebration party in London in July. There they will meet Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Horatio Clare and the authors shortlisted for the 2107 award as well as editors, publishers, agents, and other professionals in this field. They will receive a copy of each of the books shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award and be able to have their books signed.

The closing date for the competition is Saturday 22 April 2017.

Full details are available herehttp://www.branfordboaseaward.org.uk/HBWC/HBWC_current/hbwc1.html