Young Writers and Artists Competition 2026 – The Celebration Event
In January, the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival launched its Young Writers and Artists Competition, a regular feature of the festival. This year's theme was AFTER MIDNIGHT, chosen because it is also the title of a new collection of Daphne du Maurier's short stories, launched by her publisher, Virago, recently.
Mason – Key Stage 1, Poetry joint 1st
The competition aims to encourage young people to engage in visual arts and creative writing, and to celebrate their creativity and originality. The competition is open to all children living in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly aged 4 to 16 on 31st August 2026. Thanks to generous sponsorship, entry is free, and prizes are awarded in each category and age group. The competition is divided into sections, with children able to enter a short story, a poem, or a picture (or all three if they want to). Entries often come through schools, but children are also welcome to enter independently.
Sydney – Key Stage 2, Poetry 1st
This year, entries were received by the end of March, and then judging began. There is a small army of judges who each play their part in the selection process, firstly individually or in pairs, and then at group meetings when the final decisions are made. At these meetings, there is much enthusiasm as pictures are selected, the content of stories is discussed, and poems are read aloud, with discussion continuing until each group has settled on first and second-place winners for each Key Stage. Other good entries receive certificates for highly commended or commended work.
Sophie – Key Stage 3 / 4, Poetry 1st
The next stage is to choose an overall Writer of the Year and Artist of the Year. This year, the Writer of the Year was chosen by J.T. Scott, a local children's author, perfectly placed to select the winner, as she writes books for children at all Key Stages. If you would like to find out more about Jenny and her books, please click here: https://www.sammyrambles.co.uk/about-jt-scott/
Lizzie – Key Stage 2, Short Story 1st
For the Artist of the Year, pictures from all the finalists were displayed at Fowey River Gallery https://www.foweyrivergallery.co.uk, and people could vote for the artwork they considered to be the best.
This year, the Competition's Celebration event took place at Fowey Harbour Hotel on the morning of Saturday 9th May, the final day of the Festival. It was a wonderful event, attended by all the prize-winning young people and their families, judges, volunteers, and sponsors. The hotel provided coffee, soft drinks and snacks before the event, and at 10.30 am, when the event was ready to begin, the room was absolutely packed with excited children and adults.
Molly – Key Stage 3 / 4, Short Story joint 1st
Prizes were given first to the artists, then to the authors of the stories and poems. Each winning artist came to the front of the room and held up their picture for everyone to see. Each picture had been framed by the Atishoo Gallery, in Charlestown https://atishoogallery.co.uk, as part of the young people's prizes. They also received a
book voucher from the
Mid Cornwall Arts Society and a certificate, presented
to them by Jenny Smith, the Society's
chair. Richard Brice, who is the competition's local link to the Society,
was also present.
Minver – Key Stage 3 / 4, Short Story joint 1st
Next, the young people who had written the short stories and poems came to the front of the room to read their work to the audience. They were presented with their prizes by children's author J.T. Scott, who gave them a Waterstones book voucher, their written work mounted on card, and a certificate.
It will have taken some courage for the youngsters to read out their work to a room full of people. However, all but two children felt able to do this, and the two who didn't had their work read out for them, so the audience could hear all the winning entries and share in their joy.
Theo - Key Stage 1, Short Story 1st
It was in this section that the youngest winner took his place at the front of the room to read his story. Theo is five and in the reception class at his school. He had written a splendid story, very relevant to the theme of After Midnight, and he presented it as an illustrated book. He won first prize in Key Stage One, and you can see him pictured here.
As you can see, we have included pictures of all the children who came first in the short story and poetry categories in each Key Stage. The pictures include one of Thea, who came joint first in the Key Stage 1 Poetry section and won the Young Writer of the Year Award. The awards for the Young Writer of the Year and the Young Artist of the Year were funded by Mid Cornwall Arts Society.
Thea – Key Stage 1, Poetry joint 1st and Young Writer of the Year, with children's author J.T. Scott
Everyone involved was delighted by the substantial number of entries from all over Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. However, it did mean there was a lot of work to do running the competition, reaching the final results, and organising the event to celebrate the winners. A huge thank you must go to Angela for all the hard work she puts into making this event such a success each year. Thanks are also extended to the judges who give of their time, although, to be honest, it is a really lovely thing to be involved in and much more like fun than hard work. Thanks must also go to the volunteers who helped make the Celebration morning go so smoothly.
A huge thank you goes to the people and organisations that have again supported and sponsored this important event. This year, they are Waterstones, Fowey Harbour Hotel, Atishoo Gallery, J.T. Scott and The Arts Society Mid Cornwall.
But perhaps most of all, thank you to all the young people who took part in this year's Young Writers and Artists Competition. We look forward to your contributions next year!
Ann Willmore, May 2026.