The Heritage New Writing Contest is looking for submissions by writers aged 18 years or under at the start of the 2026-27 academic year.

This year’s theme is: Secrets.

The deadline for submissions is 27 November 2026.

Submissions will be judged by a panel of published authors and academics, and the winners announced in early 2027.

Prizes will be awarded in the following categories:
Under 18 Best Prose
Under 18 Best Poetry
Under 15 Best Prose
Under 15 Best Poetry
Under 11 Best Prose
Under 11 Best Poetry

The winners, along with up to 3 commended runners up in each category, will be published in the Heritage New Writing Contest’s showcase journal, upon a golden bough.

ONLINE APPLICATION TO ENTER THE COMPETITION

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Rules of Entry

  1. Each school is able to submit 2 pieces of work per category (U18 Prose; U18 Poetry; U15 Prose; U15 Poetry; U11 Prose; U11 Poetry) to a maximum of 12 submissions per school.
  2. The work must be the student’s own new writing and may not have been previously published or submitted elsewhere.
  3. Submissions of prose must be no longer than 600 words, and of verse no longer than 50 lines.
  4. All entries must have titles, with untitled works being headed ‘Untitled’.
  5. The author’s full name and age as of 1 September 2026 must follow the title and precede the first line of the piece itself. NOTE: these details will be removed before sending to judges, to ensure the impartiality of the judging process.
      a. For the purposes of categories, entrants must fall within the specified age range as of 1/9/26

    i. So, a student who turns 15 on 31/8/26 will be entered in the U18 category, while a student who turns 15 on 2/9/26 will be entered in the U15 category, etc.

  6. All entries must be typed in MS Word using Calibri font, size 11.
  7. Spelling must be in British English, though non-standard lexis and spelling is allowed where necessary to the piece. Bi- or multi-lingual entries will be accepted provided that the majority of the text is written in English and the piece’s sense is accessible to monoglot speakers of English.
  8. Lines must be formatted using 1.5 line spacing, though variations will be accepted where necessary to the piece.
  9. Margins must use the MS Word ‘Normal’ Margin settings, though variations will be accepted where necessary to the piece.
  10. No coloured fonts or images are to be used.
  11. Submission of a piece of work will be taken as proof of consent for The Heritage Private School to publish the work either in upon a golden bough or any other public medium at the school’s discretion.
  12. Each attachment must be labelled Heritage New Writing Contest Submission_Name of School_Submission Category. For example, ‘Heritage New Writing Contest Submission_The Heritage Private School_U15 Poetry’.
Agreement