At Waldegrave we encourage pupils to enter Arts Richmond Young Writers Festival with a short story, poem or journalistic piece. The competition is open to all young people who either live or attend schools or clubs in the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames and it is a chance to demonstrate excellent writing skills.
Entries are judged in four age groups with prizes for all winning entries. In addition the shortlisted entrants from all the age groups are invited to a gala awards event at The Exchange Theatre in Twickenham on Sunday 15th March 2026 where their work is performed on the stage by a group of young drama students. This involves the poetry and short stories written by around 40 pupils. The shortlisted entries are all pulled together and published in an anthology.
Last year, Waldegrave pupil Rose B had her short story ‘A Night Out in Russia’ shortlisted – read her story and write up of attending the gala on pages 17-18 in last year’s Spring Magazine.
Entry Rules:
There are two themes this year – ‘My World’ and ‘Something Extraordinary’. Pupils entering can choose either of these themes to write a short story which can be any length up to 500 words, or a poem with a maximum of 25 lines. We are very happy to receive shorter pieces of work. One entry per pupil.
All work must be original and exclusively the entrant’s own work – no AI please!
Please do not write your name on the work entries with names identified will be disqualified.
Entries must be in typed format. Hand-written entries will be disqualified.
Entries will be judged in the following categories:
School Years 4 and under
School Years 5 and 6
School Years 7 to 9
School Years 10 and above
Entries can to be posted to:
Arts Richmond Young Writers Festival
ETNA Community Centre Room 21
13 Rosslyn Road
Twickenham TW1 2AR
Or emailed: YWentries@artsrichmond.org.uk