The London Review Bookshop launches new prize for young writers inspired by Martha Mills

The London Review Bookshop has launched the Martha Mills Young Writers’ Prize, offering writers aged between 11 and 14 the chance to have their work published.

Inspired by the daughter of an editor of the London Review of Books (LRB) Paul Laity, and Merope Mills, editor of the Guardian’s Saturday magazine, the prize “seeks to give young people a chance to explore new themes in their writing and to get their work published". Mills wrote about her daughter’s death in the Guardian.

Judging the prize’s inaugural round will be writer Katherine Rundell, Mills and Laity, and Gayle Lazda from the London Review Bookshop.

The judges are looking for writing that is “lively, unusual or otherwise original”, adding: “It doesn’t have to be perfect or finished – they want to see the work that young writers are most proud of or excited about. Any piece of prose under 500 words, whether it’s a piece of schoolwork, something from real life – perhaps from a diary or journal – or purely imagined, will be eligible.”

This year’s theme is “The Stranger”, and applicants are invited to take this idea in any direction they like. The winning entries will be announced on 17th June. The three winning writers will each receive £200 as well as a selection of books and a special souvenir.

They will be invited to the London Review Bookshop (travel and accommodation will be paid for) where the prizes will be awarded by Katherine Rundell. A selection of entries, including the three winners, will be included in a pamphlet, available at the Bookshop.

Mills and Laity said: “Every birthday and Christmas our daughter Martha would ask for the same presents: a notebook and a snow globe. By the time she died, aged 13, she was an enthusiastic writer with dozens of snow globes and piles of notebooks bursting with book ideas. She produced countless half-finished stories, opening lines, chapter plans and character breakdowns. Martha loved reading and writing and took inspiration from her favourite authors – Katherine Rundell, Malorie Blackman, Philip Pullman and others. We weren’t able to witness her grow as a reader and writer, but we hope the Martha Mills prize will inspire other young writers.”

Martha’s own writing included The Story of Nothing, which begins: 

​"Every book starts with nothing, 
but in this case, Nothing 
is a boy. And this story is how 
Nothing turns into Something"

Another, Realm of Sky, begins: "A long, long time ago, in a land that was wild, magic and free, there lived a carefree girl named for birds… She had a temper like a wildfire and a tongue as sharp as the knife she wielded. Her name was Kestrel..."

Submissions should be sent by email to youngwriters@lrb.co.uk or by post to the London Review Bookshop by 22nd May. More information can be found at the London Review Bookshop website.