Writing Competitions for 2025
Children’s Competition
The Mere Literary Festival invited children and young people to submit original, English-language writing for our 2025 competition themed around “Animals.”
Entrants could choose any format—story, poem, or description—up to 800 words. Entries were grouped into two age categories: up to 10 years old, and 11–15 years old, with first and second prizes of £50 and £25 book tokens respectively.
Adults Competition
The Mere Literary Festival invited submissions for our 2025 Short Story Competition, welcoming UK residents aged 18 and over to submit original, non-AI-generated stories of up to 3,500 words in any genre or style.
Each story must have included the prompt line: “As I struggled to the top of Castle Hill, I turned and looked below, wondering if anyone would believe my story.”
The entries were judged anonymously by award-winning writers Christina Sanders and Elizabeth Woodgate. First prize was £250