Volunteer with the Orwell Youth Prize!
The Orwell Youth Prize is an annual writing Prize for young people in secondary school years 7-13, using the writing of George Orwell as a starting point to encourage entrants to think and write about the world they live in. We encourage entries in all forms of writing, from poetry to essays, articles, stories, scripts and even game design. The 2024 Prize theme is ‘Home'.
This year, we're set to hit a record number of entries, and we'd love UCL students to apply to be be Volunteer Readers with The Orwell Youth Prize, to read and review entries for our shortlist.
The Orwell Youth Prize prides itself on its robust and transparent judging process. All entries are anonymised and read by at least two readers as a way to whittle down a final shortlist which goes to our judges. All shortlisted entrants will be invited to our special Celebration Day in July, to attend poltiical writing workshops, share their work with an invited audience, and receive Orwell books and goodies!
Ideally, we work with volunteers who are comfortable reading and assessing work across writing genres, given that young people enter writing in multiple forms including poetry, short stories, essays and journalism. However, we can work to build a volunteering opportunity tailored to your expertise in a certain form.