Win a creative writing course

 

 

Do you have a way with words and a passion to get your ideas down on paper? Do you have the imagination of Roald Dahl or want to write verse like Michael Rosen? The Evening News is launching a writing competition for ages 13 to 17 to discover the next budding author in our midst.

One lucky wordsmith will win a place on the coveted write4kicks creative writing residential course held in the summer holidays.

The write4kicks Creative Writing Residential is a week-long course in leafy Somerset aimed at 13-17 year olds with a love and flair for writing who can’t stand being bored over the school holidays. Should you be the lucky winner, you will attend a series of workshops about creative writing, both as an art form and as a profession.

Workshops will span different genres, giving you the opportunity to explore areas such as: the novel, poetry and lyrics, journalism, comedy and drama. Sessions are taught by a team comprised of experienced teachers and published writers.

The write4kicks team believes that creativity and fun go hand-in-hand and for that reason you won’t find normal classroom teaching on the course, just action, energy and laughter and hopefully some good quality writing at the end of it all. It’s your chance to exchange ideas and email addresses with other young writers from across the UK and enjoy social and teambuilding events like a disco, barbecue, night walk and a talent show for those of you who like to show off! The trip will conclude at lunchtime on the final day with a presentation of your work to the guest writer (last year, best-selling novelist Fay Weldon), an event that parents and carers are encouraged to attend.

To be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is send us in an example of your work. The piece can be up to 1,000 words long and in any style you choose, whether that be a blog, poem, song lyrics, short story or a play.

You don’t even need to write something from scratch – perhaps you’ve a piece of schoolwork you’d like to enter or some creative writing you’ve already written at home that just needs a little fine tuning.

Just make sure you send it off to us to arrive no later than noon on Friday, April 18.

You can fill in the online form below, or download and print the word document here to go with a letter or CD.

The winning entry will be printed in paper and all entries will be available to read on the Evening News website.

For full competition terms and conditions click here.

If you are not a competition winner but want to prove your passion to write you can still apply for the write4kicks course, places cost £495. Details of funding options are available on the write4kicks website at: www.write4kicks.co.uk. Applications must be received by Friday, May 9.

 

All fields marked with * are required

 

 

Name: *

 

Email: *

 

Date of birth (dd/mm/yyyy): *

 

Telephone number: *

 

Address: *

 

Postcode: *

 

School: *

 

School year: *

 

Entry: *

 

 

Terms and conditions:

• Entries need to be received by no later than noon on Friday, April 18.
• The winner will be announced in the paper on Friday, April 25.
• The competition is free to enter and is open to Evening News readers aged 13 to 17 on Friday, April 18, 2008.
• Entries must be written in English.
• Stories must be no longer than 1,000 words and previously unpublished.
• Previously published stories both online and in-print will be disqualified.
• Entries appearing to be offensive, threatening, abusive, discriminatory, obscene, pornographic, libellous or defamatory will also be disqualified.
• It is a condition of entering the competition that entrants must be willing to have their work featured on the Evening News website and in-print.
• The judges' decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into concerning this decision.
• Details of the winner and runners-up will be printed in the Evening News and online. Entrants must be the sole, original author of that entry and are fully entitled to enter their work; and grant the Evening News a non-exclusive, royalty-free, non-terminable licence to copy, modify, distribute, sub-licence, show in public and create derivative works from that material in any form.
• Entrants hereby authorise the Evening News to adapt the relevant material and waive their moral rights in respect of the work. It is a condition of entering the competition that entrants also agree that the Evening News may use entries on other websites or in publications owned or managed by the Evening News.
• We can only accept one entry per person either emailed, online or on disk.

Send your entries to: Maggie Deer, Evening News Write4Kicks Competition, Norwich Evening News Marketing, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich, NR1 1RE or email: maggie.deer@archant.co.uk

Entries need to be received by Friday, April 18. The winner will be announced in paper Friday, April 25.