A Place or Person You Know Very Well: The 2026 Henrietta Branford Writing Competition
Six young winners of the 2026 Henrietta Branford Writing Competition celebrated at the Branford Boase Award Ceremony
Six talented young writers aged between 12 and 17 have been announced as winners of this year’s Henrietta Branford Writing Competition for Young People. The judges also chose eight more stories to be Highly Commended.
The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition runs in conjunction with the Branford Boase Award and aims to encourage writers of the future, something Henrietta Branford, the award-winning author of Dimanche Diller and Fire, Bed and Bone, was always keen to do.
This year’s competition was inspired by 2025 Branford Boase Award winner Margaret McDonald and her book Glasgow Boys, Margaret asked entrants to write about a place or a person they know very well. Young writers responded in the hundreds, with stories, poems and rap or song lyrics.
The names of the winners will be read out at the 2026 Branford Boase Award ceremony, attended by this year’s shortlisted authors and editors, and Margaret congratulates them all. “I was bowled over by the quality of the winning entries and the highly commended entries too. There’s an authenticity to the writing, and we really get a feel for the people and places being written about. Congratulations to the winners and to everyone who took part and wrote a story, poem or song. Keep writing and keep enjoying writing.”
Ruth Knowles, Publisher, Walker Books and Chair of the Judges, says, “The Walker editorial team and I have loved reading the entries and know for sure that we’ve just read many published authors of the future. It was incredibly hard to choose the winners. Thank you for transporting us, immersing us and entertaining us.”
The editor judges say, “We loved how you rooted us so brilliantly in place whilst showing how time changes and kept us gripped equally for both elements. Lovely use of language.”
The editor judges say “This felt so distinct and evocative in terms of setting. We loved your clever structure and the way you moved us between the past and the present.”
The editor judges say, “This feels very special. There’s a wonderful cadence and something very naturally impressive in the way Megan writes.”
