Six talented young writers are winners of the 2025 Henrietta Branford Writing Competition.
Six talented young writers aged between 10 and 17 are the winners of this year’s Henrietta Branford Writing Competition for Young People. The judges have also chosen two more stories to be Highly Commended, and seven more are Commended.
This year’s competition was inspired by 2024 Branford Boase Award winner Nathanael Lessore and his book Steady For This and asked entrants to make the judges laugh.
Prue Goodwin, Chair of the Judges, says: “It is a privilege to be involved as a judge in the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition and it has been a pleasure to read all the stories, lyrics, verses and descriptions we received this year. Entries have been of such high quality that the final decisions took a long time. After reading and re-reading the judges had the very difficult task agreeing on six winners. The process involves gradually filtering through all entries until the pile of possible winners is reduced to 18 texts. With the age span of writers being from six years to sixteen, it is important to reflect the differences between all entries. Writing is such a personal pursuit that everyone who entered the competition should be proud of themselves. You were required to make us laugh and we did. Thank you. We are already looking forward to seeing your work again next year.”
‘A cage made of solid gold!’ is the startling opening to this time-slip story told by a hamster in the authentic voice of a 10-year-old writer. The hamster’s adventures include falling into a handbag, finding himself on a sunny beach and discovering an ability to breathe underwater. The last of these skills enables him to retrieve gold coins from a treasure chest by stuffing them into his cheeks. Packed with original ideas (including valuable information about Syrian hamsters) this charming story would appeal to any reader.
This story immediately drew me in and I was keen to know more about this character.
“Apparently, am running in my ridiculously high heels with my bright pink underwear hanging out the back.”
The title of this tale might suggest an action-packed adventure. But there is no cause for concern as we first meet our narrator going to staying with his Granny and Grandpa. What could be safer than that? However, he has plans. Despite his opinions on the politics and general interests of the locals, he wants to infiltrate a gang of tearaways. To do that he carefully observes the gang members – the way they act, dress and speak. He is particularly impressed by the baggy jeans that def reveal glimpses of Spiderman underpants. Talking seems to consist of monosyllables. He changes his dialect, wears a hoodie and is ready to joins the gang.
“Nobody can love me like a shower can.”
This poem is clearly based on close observation of cat behaviour. The poet has translated those observations into an internal monologue that perfectly captures the aloofness and arrogance that we often associate with them.