Winners of 2026 DH Lawrence children’s writing competition announced
The winners have been chosen and announced for this year’s of DH Lawrence children’s writing competition.
This year’s competition was themed around ‘friendship’ and received more than 350 entries of short stories and poems from children aged four to 16.
Among the stories from winners in the international competition, celebrating this year’s theme of friendship, were the tale of astronaut Poppy’s encounter with alien Blub on Planet Twinkle and the story of two friends’ last day together in the Japanese town of Atima before a big move to Tokyo.
The team of judges from the DH Lawrence Society, Nottingham City of Literature, Eastwood Writers’ Group and Broxtowe Council loved reading all the entries.
With 365 from right across Broxtowe, the UK, Turkey, Bangladesh, the USA and UAE, they had the difficult task of narrowing them down to just a few winners.
The winners were:
Age 4-7
1st – Nidhaan, ‘A Friendship out of this World’
2nd – Agatha, ‘The Squabble’
3rd – Lola, ‘Poem’
Highly Commended – Samuel, ‘The Friendship Parade’
Highly Commended – Mary, ‘The Story of Friendship’
Age 8-11
1st – Aira, ‘Friends are like Shooting Stars’
2nd – Helena, ‘Friendship Poem’
3rd – Indie-Rose, ‘Friendship’
Highly Commended – Henry, ‘Friends’
Age 12-16
1st – Caden, ‘The Weight of a Ticket'
2nd – Aryana, ‘Room 207’
3rd – Charis, ‘What I remember’
Highly Commended – Andrew, ‘Ben’
Best of Broxtowe
Age 4-7 winner – Louie, ‘Rex and I’
Age 4-7 Highly Commended – Saffron, ‘Me and My Friends’
Age 8-11 Winner – Eddie, ‘Friendship’
Age 8-11 Highly Commended – Nefeli, ‘Best Friend Chant’
Age 12-16 Winner – Bluebell, ‘untitled’
Age 12-16 Highly Commended – Erika, ‘The Girl and Her’
Winners were invited to a ceremony at the DH Lawrence Birthplace Museum on June 27 and presented with their awards by Coun Sarah Webb (Brox All), deputy mayor of Broxtowe.
A selection of winning entries will be animated and displayed in an online exhibition on the Broxtowe website.
Coun Teresa Cullen (Brox All), portfolio holder for health and leisure, said: “Entries to this competition amaze me every year, there’s stories to make you laugh and cry from young people right across the borough, country, and the world – all the entrants should be extremely proud of themselves.
“Our writing competition is a great way to get young people interested in Lawrence and literature in general, encouraging them to get creative and have fun while doing it.”