Competitions
Just-for-fun writing contests for young writers, ages 9 and up.
Once Upon a Fairytale
Short Story Contest
Write a Fairytale Retelling of your choice…
…Win 1 of 3 amazing books!
Click below to join in! 👇
What’s Coming Up Next?
2025 Schedule
July – Giveaway ✅
August – Flash Fiction Challenge ✅
November – Short Story Contest!
PLEASE NOTE: Schedule may be subject to changes, especially in the case of surprise life happenings, brilliant ideas (that must be implemented instead), sword-fighting outbreaks, and/or hedgehog invasions.
Thor the Viking Sheep’s Most Recent Escapade
(Not for the faint of heart)
While scaling a steep mountainside lately, Thor accidentally discovered a secret door and stumbled upon the hoard of a sleeping dragon.
Due to Thor’s diminutive size (not to be confused for the largeness of his might), he was able to hide himself under a nearby bucket. But alas, as he was fumbling his way toward the exit, he stepped in a small gold band and it got stuck around his hoof. Unfortunately, Thor’s attempts to shake it off awoke the dragon, who muttered, “Not this again.”
Thor abandoned the bucket and made for the door – not from cowardice, mind you, but because he’d rather fight outdoors than on a slippery pile of treasure. The dragon pursued Thor outside, very rudely accusing him of being a thief, then snatched him up in his claws. A great battle ensued in the air, Thor swinging his hammer with much braveness and might.
Thor eventually lost consciousness, but he awoke several hours later to find himself sitting in his favourite armchair with his nose pressed against a worn copy of The Hobbit.
Thor insists that the dragon deposited him back in his chair out of respect for his heroic mid-air fighting skills and that he did NOT fall asleep while reading like some may think. (Viking Sheep take part in heroic adventures, not merely dream about them.)
Unfortunately, no one has been able to verify his story.
Thor would like to tell you all not to worry about him as he is safe and well. And just in case you were wondering what happened to that small gold band… Thor now keeps it in an envelope at home, insisting that it’s very precious to him.
August Flash Fiction Challenge
Mini Contest: August 2025
Contestants wrote a 500-800 word short story involving a portable time machine. Click below to read five incredible stories that were chosen to be featured.
Giveaway: July 2025
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The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict by Trenton Lee Stewart
Standalone Prequel to The Mysterious Benedict Society
Giveaway Winner:
Aurora Heta
The Great ROBIN HOOD Contest of Stories
~ May 2025
Ages 9-10 – ‘Trouble in London’ by Nathanael Posthuma
Ages 11-12 – ‘A Light in the Lonely Darkness’ by Rose Harris
Ages 13-15 – ‘The Really, Horribly, Not Quite So Bad Day’ by Abbigail Aitken
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Advanced Scribes: Ages 16-18 – ‘Two Sides to Every Tale’ by Bethany Cammell
Mini Contest: March 2025
Word Prompt Challenge
Ages 9-10 – ‘The Case of the Missing Alberts’ by Scout Garea
Ages 11-12 – ‘Dawn Thievery’ by Ruby-Bo Garea
Ages 13-15 – ‘The Finale’ by Talitha Borstad
Ages 16-18 – ‘Finding Words’ by Willow Brooke
Thor’s Choice – ‘DO NOT EVER tell Greek Myths to Kids’ by Rose Whitacre
Giveaway: February 2025
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The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
A fast-paced read filled with danger, action, lies, and deadly truths.
Giveaway Winner: Catherine Mai
The SECRET IDENTITY Short Story Contest
~ November 2024
Ages 9-10 – ‘Wounds of War’ by Valentina Pohl Fabris
Ages 11-12 – ‘The End of Acheron’ by Gimli of the DwarvesÂ
Ages 13-14 – ‘I didn’t MEAN to blow up the opera house…’ by Meg Bales
Ages 15-16 – ‘Reconciliation’ by Willow Brooke
“I wonder what sort of tale we’ve fallen into?”
– J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict
by Trenton Lee Stewart
Privacy Policy
The Storylights
Firstly, we'll never sell or share any of your personal information with anyone else unless we're required to by law, and we only collect the minimum personal data that we need to run our services. For example, we need your name and email address so we can notify you if your competition entry has been selected for a prize, or to send you details about our next competition.
Secondly, any original story material that you send to us, either as part of a competition or not, remains your own personal intellectual property. However, by submitting your story to us, you grant us the right to display it on on our website, and we agree to always credit it to you the author. You retain full rights to your story, including the right to reuse it or resubmit it to any other competition or publication.
Terms & Conditions
The Storylights
By using this website, (for example, by submitting a form, or entering a competition or giveaway), you agree to be bound by and follow these terms and conditions:
- You agree that you are either at least 13 years old, or you have the permission of a parent or guardian to use this website.
- We understand that the name you choose to use on our website or submit with a competition entry, may be an alias or pen name (for young authors, this can be a good way to help protect your privacy), but you understand that we will treat that name like your real name, including when we provide credit to the author of a winning story.
- You agree that any written work that you submit to us as part of a competition or giveaway, is your own original work, written by you and not copied from or written by another person. (No AI work permitted.)
- You agree to not submit any written work to us that promotes or encourages violence, racism, self-harm, or any other activity that is either illegal or potentially damaging to other people.
- You keep all intellectual property rights to any of your own written material that you submit to us, but you agree to give us the right to display your work on our website as part of the services we provide. (For example, displaying competition winners and honourable mentions.)
- We reserve the right to judge competition entries at our sole discretion, and will award the winning entry based on whatever criteria we think to be fair.
- We reserve the right to exclude from competition, any entry that we feel goes against the spirit of the competition, or breaches one of our other conditions, like plagiarism.