The London Review Bookshop has launched a prize for “lively, unusual or otherwise original” writing by 11-14 year olds, offering young people the chance to have their work published.
The Martha Mills Young Writers’ prize has been set up in memory of the daughter of Merope Mills, editor of the Guardian’s Saturday magazine, and Paul Laity, an editor at the London Review of Books (LRB). Martha died in 2021. Her parents said that it was Martha’s “great curiosity and imagination” that inspired the new award.
“Every birthday and Christmas Martha would ask for the same presents: a notebook and a snow globe,” they said. “By the time she died, aged 13, she was an enthusiastic writer with dozens of snow globes and piles of notebooks bursting with book ideas.”
One of these notebooks contained The Story of Nothing, which begins:
Every book starts with nothing,
but in this case Nothing
is a boy. And this story is how
Nothing turns into Something
For the award’s inaugural year, Mills and Laity will sit on the judging panel alongside Gayle Lazda from the London Review Bookshop and the acclaimed writer for both children and adults Katherine Rundell.
UK-based writers between the ages of 11 and 14 are eligible, and may enter a piece of prose under 500 words. This can be anything from a piece of schoolwork or a diary entry to something purely imagined. The theme for 2023 is “The Stranger”, but applicants are encouraged to take this idea in any direction they like – the judges are looking for “the work that young writers are most proud of or excited about”.
The three winning entries will be announced on 17 June, when each winner will each be awarded £200 as well as a selection of books and a special souvenir. A selection of entries, including those of the three winners, will be included in a pamphlet, available at the London Review Bookshop. Submissions should be sent by email to youngwriters@lrb.co.uk or by post to the London Review Bookshop by 22 May. For more information visit the LRB website.
“Martha loved reading and writing and took inspiration from her favourite authors – Katherine Rundell, Malorie Blackman, Philip Pullman and others,” her parents said. “We weren’t able to witness her grow as a reader and writer, but we hope the Martha Mills prize will inspire other young writers.”
The winners of the first Martha Mills Young Writers’ Prize will be announced on 17 June
