Send us your story, essay or poem on the subject of ‘The Perfect Day’

And win up to £30 to spend at the Yellow-Lighted Bookshops in Tetbury or Nailsworth!

The Competition

If you closed your eyes and imagined the perfect day for you, what would it be like? Or do you remember a day from your past that seemed perfect in every way? How would you describe it?

We’re asking young people in Tetbury and the surrounding area to send us their stories, poems or essays on the subject of the ‘The Perfect Day’. The winning entries chosen by the judging panel will be published here and each winner will receive a voucher to spend in the The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop in Tetbury or Nailsworth.

Our judging panel is: Christine Berry, who is a Goods Shed Trustee and former teacher and has been one of the selectors for the BBC Young Writers Award; Phil Kirby, who runs our writers’ group at the Goods Shed, and Annie Hooper, author and journalist.

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Age categories

There are three categories:

  • 7-12 (£15 voucher prize)
  • 13-16 (£25 voucher prize)
  • 17-21 (£35 voucher prize)

Your entry

The only restriction on entries is an upper limit of 750 words. Otherwise entrants are free to write about the perfect day in whatever format and length they prefer, whether that’s a poem, an essay or a piece of fiction.

The judges will be looking for originality and use of style and tone.

Format

Please submit your entry in Word (.doc or .docx), Open Office (.odf) or plain text (.txt) format and send it in as an email attachment to [email protected] or as an attachment to the entry form below.

Alternatively, handwritten entries may be posted to:

Young People’s Writing Competition, Tetbury Goods Shed Arts Centre, Old Station Yard, Tetbury, GL8 8EY.

When posting or emailing entries, please don’t forget to include your full name, age, town or village, and a daytime phone number so that we can contact you if needed. This information will only be used in connection with the competition and not shared with anyone.

Deadline

The final deadline for entries is 5pm on Monday 1st March. Winners will be contacted on Friday 19th March, when the winning entries will also be published on www.shed-arts.co.uk.

Prize winners

Virus restrictions permitting, winners will be offered the opportunity to be photographed receiving their prize at the Goods Shed or Yellow-Lighted Bookshop (this is optional if you are camera shy!) We will also issue a press release with the names of the winners and judges’ comments on their entries.

Ready. Get set. Write!

That’s all there is to entering. Now it’s over to you to uplift, impress and encourage everyone by writing about The Perfect Day. We look forward to reading it!

Entry form