Hull Libraries is inviting Hulls youngest writers to show off their talent in a new competition, sponsored by the J Venn Foundation.
The Venn Young Writers Competition is open to children aged seven-14 and gives young people the opportunity to see their work in print.
Children are invited to enter any or all of four categories of the competition: short story (500-700 words), poem, blog (max 500 words) or designing their own comic strip (max 1 x A4 page). Each category must include a reference to the theme circle – reflecting the iconic shape of a Venn diagram.
Ellen Bianchini, Director of The Big Malarkey Festival at Hull Libraries, said: Competitions provide a great incentive for children to write and draw. We are delighted that with this one theyll see the whole process of their ideas becoming an illustrated book – so its an exciting prospect and we hope lots of families and schools will get involved. Children get huge enjoyment from reading, writing and drawing, as we saw in The Big Malarkey Festival this year. Weve held some workshops this summer around the Venn Writing Competition and the response has been fantastic.
Councillor Terry Geraghty, Hull City Council Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Tourism and Chair of Hull Culture & Leisure Limited, said: This competition is great for young people to get creative and show-off their writing skills and I hope they will take part and have the chance to have their work published and win some great prizes. Our libraries team is continuing to deliver exciting opportunities for people to take part, expanding their offer and illustrating that libraries are more than just borrowing books!
The Big Malarkey Festival, which took place in June, saw big name childrens authors and illustrators such as Julian Clary, Lydia Monks and Nick Arnold deliver sessions to children across a week of celebrations in East Park.
The Venn Young Writers Competitions winning entries will be published as an anthology and illustrated by students from Wyke Sixth Form College. The book will be presented at next years Big Malarkey Festival, and also be made available in all branch libraries across the city.
Winning entrants will also win theatre tickets for their whole families and runners up will receive book tokens.
Children can send in their entries to the competition by email, to [email protected], or by dropping their entry into any library in Hull. They can also submit entries to their school teachers and librarians, who may send a group of entries on behalf of the school. Name, age and address must be supplied with all entries.
All entries must be submitted by 5pm on Wednesday 25 October.