Now in its third year, Pearson’s annual writing competition is back for 2021, this time My Twist on a Tale: Our Tomorrow!

The competition will launch on International Literacy Day (Wednesday 8 September), and encourage children aged 4 to 19 to compose a piece looking to the future, such as:

  • a personal letter to their 100-year-old self
  • writing a rap about what their town might look like in twenty years’ time
  • re-imagining a classic tale with a sci-fi-style makeover
  • any of the brilliant and creative ideas your children come up with!

With this competition, children and young people can unleash their fortune-telling skills, cast their minds ahead to the future and produce their own reflections on what it might hold.

Storytellers can explore whatever themes are important to them, be that family, climate, inclusion, technology, space exploration or beyond…

To expand the scope for children and young people even further than previous years, the 2021 competition will welcome creative non-fiction entries in addition to stories and poems.

The winners will not only receive a prize but also see their works published as an illustrated collection for all to read, as well as in a selection of audio stories too!

Stories can be submitted from Wednesday 8 September through to Friday 26 November but to keep updated on the competition and receive your entry pack , register now!

The 2020 Prize

The 2020 competition encouraged young people to let their imagination run wild as they wrote a story based on a new theme for 2020, Everyday Heroes.

Pearson wanted children to have the opportunity to write their own tales of people who had made a difference to them. And there was nothing to say the hero needed to be a human!

Listen to the winning stories here in audio

Or read the winning stories in the My Twist on a Tale: Everyday Heroes Winning Stories Book

Our MD Deborah Maclaren was one of the judges and had the difficult task of picking the Key Stage 2 winner. Huge congrats to Stamford Bottomley for his Mr Eight O’Clock story!