Inspiring, encouraging and acknowledging the creativity of young people is a common goal for London based Litro Magazine and IGGY at the University of Warwick. And Litro & IGGY are pleased to announce that The IGGY and Litro Young Writers’ Prize will be held again for the fourth year in 2013.

The IGGY and Litro Young Writers’ Prize is funded by philanthropically, and is open to gifted young people from around the world aged 13 – 18 and from all walks of life  In addition to a cash prize of £2,000 the winner will be published in the free leading short story and creative magazine Litro and at IGGY.net £200 will also be awarded to each of the 5 runners –up. This year’s participants should write a short story of no more than 2,500 words in length based on the theme of ‘Dream’.

IGGY is the University of Warwick’s educational social network designed to help gifted young people aged 13-18 from across the world realise their full potential. IGGY focuses on providing stretching challenges for young people in Creative Writing, as well as other subject areas.

The fourth IGGY and Litro Young Writers’ Prize will this year be judged by the BBC broadcaster, writer & journalist, John McCarthy CBE, creative writer and perhaps the UK’s greatest teacher Francis Gilbert, writer and critic Ian Sansom, award winning writer and performance poet Dean Atta and young teenage writer  Simi Prasad.

The competition is open this year to IGGY members aged 13 – 18. Stories should be no more than 2500 words in length.

Timeline:

• Competition opens on 3^rd June 2013.
• Deadline for submissions 13^th September 2013
• Winner announced December 2013

Commenting on the announcement of the award Eric Akoto, Litro‘s founder, said:

“We are extremely excited to be able to announce the award again this year, the award has been growing each year and last year we received over 450 entries, with the award being given to a young Canadian writer Lindsey Nkem with her engaging and witty story ‘I hope there’s Wi Fi in Heaven’. The award is a fantastic opportunity for aspiring young writers to showcase their talent and to be recognised for their literary creativity. We are delighted to be partnering again with IGGY on this. The magazine has thrived because of the creativity and talent of its writers and it’s exciting to think of who and what we might discover through this award.”

“IGGY is delighted to be hosting the IGGY and Litro Young Persons’ Award again this year. We are excited to be working alongside Litro and we look forward to offering our IGGY members the opportunity to express themselves creatively as part of this competition.

I was extremely impressed with last year’s entries which were a delight to read and I look forward to seeing what our members submit this year around theme of ‘Dream’. It is a pleasure to showcase the creativity of such talented young people for a wider audience to enjoy.”

If you’d like to take part in the IGGY and Litro Young Writers’ Prize and you’re not an IGGY Member, register your interest with us here.

Liz Cookman

Liz is a thoroughly London-centric writer and a recent addition to the Litro Online team. She is passionate about creative non-fiction and waffles on a lot about London and the River Wandle - a total river bore. She holds a BA in Creative Writing and is studying for an MA in Travel and Nature Writing from Bath Spa University.

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competitions Dean Atta Francis Gilbert Ian Sansom IGGY & Litro Young Writers’ Prize John McCarthy Simi Prasad Warwick University