Call for Entries

Please Note: Entries for this competition are now closed.

We welcome entries to this year’s Children’s and Young People’s Writing Competition. Last year we received some excellent entries and had some great winners. We hope you will send in your best, most interesting and imaginative writing.

Theme: Adventure
We want to read the very best of your writing on the theme of Adventure. You can write using this theme in any way you like: it can be a story, a poem, a description or an account of how you think about it.

Word limit: up to 800 words. You don’t have to write as many as this, but it should not exceed it.

First prize for each age category: £50 book token and MLF Certificate.
Second Prize for each age category: £25 book token and MLF Certificate.
Deadline: midnight, September 12th, 2026.

Age categories:

  • Children, aged between six and ten years old.
  • Young People, aged between eleven and fifteen years old.

Mere Literary Festival Three Counties Competition

Two winners will be selected from overall entries but restricted to those who live in Wiltshire, Dorset or Somerset.

First prize: £50 book token and MLF Certificate
Second Prize: £25 book token and MLF Certificate.

Our Sponsors

Our Aunt, Adrienne Howell, inspired so many people in Mere and beyond with her passion for the written word. She founded the Literary Festival in 1997 to raise money for the Mere and District Link Scheme. Both of these legacies are still going strong today. We are immensely proud of her achievements and to see the festival develop into a wonderful event through the hard work of a dedicated team is a joy.

Adrienne was particularly keen to empower young people to write encouraging the next generation of authors whether they be local, national or international.

The Howell Family

Rules

  • Please send your entry as a Word Document (No PDFs or screenshots)
  • Please type your entry (Times New Roman 12 preferred)
  • Please include a word count at the top of the first page of your piece of writing.
  • Please, no pictures or illustrations. Just your writing!
  • On one page type your name, the title of your piece of writing, age, postal address and post code, your email address and the email address of a parent or guardian.
  • On a separate page type your entry. Please put a word count at the top of the page. Please don’t put your name or address on this page. All entries are read anonymously.
  • Please keep a copy of your entry, because we cannot return it.
  • The judge’s decision is final.
  • The winning entry will be published on Mere Literary Festival website and the winners will be announced at the start of Mere Literary Festival, October 12th 2026.

Eligibility

  •  Entries can be from anywhere in the UK.
  • Your entry must be in English. It must be your own, original work.
  • The use of A.I. in any way will result in disqualification.
  • Please do not send copy that has been previously published.
  • Please ask permission from a parent or guardian to enter.
  • Immediate family members of Mere Literary Festival organisers and volunteers are not eligible.

A Few Tips

  • Rewriting can often make your writing a lot better.
  • It is a good idea to check over your entry before sending, or get someone to help you.
  • If you read your piece of writing out loud (or in your head) it can tell you what works well.

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