Winners Liverpool Literary Festival schools presented with awards at University of Liverpool

The winners of the Liverpool Literary Festival schools short story competition were presented with their prizes in an exclusive ceremony at the University of Liverpool.

Over the last nine years the Liverpool Literary Festival, hosted by the University of Liverpool, has evolved into a key fixture in the city’s cultural calendar with talks from an array of literary stars. Each year, the festival hosts a creative writing competition to celebrate writers amongst university students and staff.

In partnership with Liverpool ONE, this was the first year that the competition was open to students from local schools to showcase their writing talent.

Selected by a prestigious panel from the University of Liverpool, including the novelist and programme director of the MA in Creative & Critical Writing, Dr Daniel O’Connor, all entrants wrote a short story on the theme of ‘Turning.’

The winners and their classmates visited the University of Liverpool for a tour of campus and a festive taster lecture about A Christmas Carol, by Dr Melissa Raines from the university’s Department of English.

Local author Dee Benson and Literary Festival Director (and Head of English) Professor Greg Lynall presented the winners and runners up in each category with their prizes – vouchers kindly donated by Liverpool ONE. The students were also treated to an insightful talk from Dee about her books and her journey as an author and ghostwriter, followed by a lively literary-themed quiz.

The winners and runners up have had their stories published in a festival anthology, available online and in print.

Professor Greg Lynall said:

“I was really impressed with the quality of entries that we received from schools across Liverpool for this year’s competition. It was a tough selection to choose from but the entries from West Derby School and UTC stood out.”

“It was great to welcome the students to campus to receive their prizes and I hope they enjoyed their day as much as we did – I’m already looking forward to next year’s competition.”

Donna Howitt, Place Strategy Director at Liverpool ONE said:

“We were delighted to see local schools engaging in the writing competition and showcasing their work at Liverpool ONE.

“Partnering with the Liverpool Literary Festival allows us to further strengthen our commitment to culture and communities while offering our visitors a taste of the remarkable talent across the region.”

You can read the winning short stories in full online here.

Next year, the Liverpool Literary Festival will take place between Friday 17^th and Sunday 19^th October 2025.