Firefly Press recently launched a fiction competition to find the best new stories for children and young adults penned by writers from Wales.
Launched on St David’s Day, the award-winning children’s and YA publisher Firefly hope that their fiction competition will enable them to find new authors. There are three separate age groups: 7-9, 9-12, and 12-18. With a winner in each category, entries will be judged by noted children’s authors Catherine Fisher, Catherine Johnson and Malachy Doyle and Firefly Publisher Penny Thomas. The three winners will receive a one-to-one editorial session with an editor from Firefly, with the overall winner winning a place on a Literature Wales’ Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre residential course in 2023.
Competition details
Firefly are seeking a completely original story written in English. Entrants must either be based in Wales or have grown up in the country. Firefly prizes accessibility and actively welcomes entries from writers from underrepresented communities. The competition is open to both published and unpublished writers.
Firefly Publisher Penny Thomas said: “Firefly is keen to find the next generation of children’s writers from Wales, particularly from underrepresented communities. If you write, or want to write great stories for young people, we’d love to hear from you, so please be brave, go ahead and enter.”
Sarah Todd Taylor, winner of the first Firefly writing competition in 2013 said: “Winning the Firefly prize was the start of an exciting adventure in children’s publishing. It gave me confidence in my writing and the chance to have Arthur and Me published by an amazing team who were truly interested in the story and were so kind and supportive of me as a debut writer. It brought me the friendship of other Firefly authors too – it really is a very special publisher. There is nothing quite like the thrill of seeing a book in a shop with your name on the spine. Now I’m editing my sixth book, and it all began by pressing send on an entry to the Firefly prize. I’d encourage anyone who wants to write for children to enter this fantastic competition.”
Entries close on 24th April and winners will be announced in October this year. More information can be found here.
