A literature festival in Wimbledon is inviting young people to enter poems and stories into their annual competition.
Wimbledon BookFest’s Young Writers’ Competition is for school students aged four to 19 and this year’s theme is “The Tree”.
Last year the competition received shortlisted entries from 72 schools across London and Surrey.
The overall winner was Raynes Park High School Year 9 student Jonathan Esenga whose powerful poem My Name is 2020 was inspired by world events during the pandemic.
It was read by author and performance poet Sophia Thakur at a prize-giving event in September last year.
Wimbledon BookFest will return to Wimbledon Common twice in 2022.
The seven day festival Sunrise in June will feature Lenny Henry and Nobel prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah.
Dame Sheila Hancock will appear at the Sunset festival in September alongside members of the musical Kanneh-Mason family.
Entrants to the Young Writers’ Competition are invited to submit their poems and stories through their teachers and schools at wimbledonbookfest.org.
Image: Jonathon Esenga - credit: Wimbledon BookFest / John Stone