2025 Henrietta Branford Writing Competition

The 2025 Henrietta Branford Writing Competition is now open for entries! The competition is open to writers aged up to 19 years and the closing date is Friday 30 May 2025.

The judges are looking for stories, poems, song or rap lyrics that will make them laugh. They can be inspired by real life events (like many of the incidents in Nathanael’s books) or entirely fictitious. Stories can be up to 600 words or up to 40 lines of verse.

This year's competition is inspired by 2024 Branford Boase Award winner, Nathanael Lessore and his book Steady For This.  Nathanael's top writing tip?  "Listen. If I find something funny, I immediately make note of it. Try that, enjoy writing and good luck in the competition!"

Prue Goodwin, freelance lecturer in literacy and children’s books, will chair the award.  Six winners will receive signed copies of each of the books shortlisted for the 2025 Branford Boase Award, which recognises strong debut writers and their editors.

The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition winners' stories, poems, song or rap lyrics will be published on the Branford Boase Award website.  Full entry instructions, terms and conditions for the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition are available here.