WINNER ANNOUNCED


Today’s the day, it doesn’t need to be a secret any more: the first ever winner of the BSME Young Writers’ Prize is …

Phoebe Evans, simply because once we read her entry, we couldn’t stop talking about it. And once you’ve read it, all you will want to do is talk about it, too. And then demand to live in a world where you can read her EVERY week. A new star has just turned its lights on.

Thank you all, you fabulous things.

Caitlin x


WINNER:

Phoebe Evans

The Acorn Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree


OUTSTANDING AWARD:

Calima Lunt Gomez

be bad


RUNNERS UP:


Top 20:


If you would like to contact one of our 2026 Young Writers in a professional capacity, please complete the form.

A huge thank you to everyone who entered the inaugural BSME & Caitlin Moran Young Writers' Prize. Over 831 submissions from across the UK — from Aberdeen to Cornwall - and every single one was read with care and attention by our panel of judges, who gave their time generously and enthusiastically. We are genuinely moved by the talent, honesty and courage in every entry.

We're unable to offer individual feedback, but please know your writing was seen, appreciated and taken seriously.

Want to be first to know when Year 2 opens in February 2027? Sign up and we'll drop you a note the moment entries open.

With thanks to our headline sponsor Mantis and our supporting sponsors Anthem, Bauer Media, C+D, Delayed Gratification, Future Publishing, Haymarket, Ralph, Stylist, Tickaroo and our individual sponsors, without whom this prize would not exist.

Share this with a writer you know — and we hope to see even more of you in 2027.

The BSME & Caitlin Moran Young Writers' Prize would not exist without the time, care and expertise of our judging panel, who read every single entry with generosity and rigour. We are enormously grateful to:

  • Carl Anka

  • Rory Boland

  • Serlina Boyd

  • Benita Finanzio

  • Eve Gardiner

  • Bryan Glick

  • Dan Green

  • Cliff Joannou

  • Josh Jones

  • Deborah Joseph

  • Amit Katwala

  • Kirsty McGregor

  • Curtis Moldrich

  • Laurence Mozafari

  • Amarachi Orie

  • Maria Pieri

  • Louise Robinson

  • Emmeline Saunders

  • Gideon Spanier

  • Andrea Thompson

  • Alix Walker

  • Marcus Webb

Thank you for believing in the next generation of writers.

 

Headline sponsor

 
 

Supporting partners

Winners' Dinner sponsor

 
 

Special thanks to individual sponsors

Caitlin Moran

David McKendrick

Louise Robinson

and support from

Susan Voss

Gesa Matyschok

Adam Cannon

 

CRITERIA FOR 2026 ENTRIES (now closed)

Who can apply?
UK residents aged 18-25 from across the UK. All backgrounds are encouraged to apply, and no previous experience is needed.

How do you enter?

Submit a short piece of original writing based on the subject of ‘something you love’. This could be a feature, review, opinion piece, a column, personal essay or a fun piece of creative writing based on your life experience or a news event or a topic that interests you. We are looking for writing that comes from a real place — your experience, your opinion, your obsession with something in the news or just in life. Voice-led, specific, yours.

Who picks the winner?
A judging panel of top editors on the BSME committee will shortlist the entries, and Caitlin Moran will choose the winner.

What will you win?

  • £12,000 cash prize

  • One year of personal mentorship from Caitlin Moran

  • Work experience placement with a UK magazine or online publication

  • The top ten runners-up will receive a work experience opportunity or 1-to-1 mentoring from a BSME committee member and publication in a printed Writers' Prize fanzine with industry-standard payment

  • The top twenty runners-up will be invited to a special online seminar with Caitlin Moran

The Young Writers’ Prize winner will be revealed at the BSME Awards 2026 on Thursday 26 November: the biggest night in magazine media.

Join our mailing list to hear about the Young Writers Prize 2027.

Please read full terms and conditions

HOW TO HELP

Why this matters

In a time when journalism urgently needs fresh voices, this prize will:

  • Champion emerging talent from all backgrounds

  • Remove financial barriers to entering journalism

  • Showcase the industry’s commitment to inclusion and innovation

What you can do

  • Share information about the Young Writers’ Prize with your community via socials, Substacks, and newsletters.

  • Spread the word about our online workshops and Q&A sessions (schedule coming soon).

  • Become a supporting sponsor of the BSME and Caitlin Moran Young Writers’ Prize, and help make this genuinely life-changing for the young writers we find.

VIEW DECK

PRESS RELEASE - SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

16 SEPTEMBER 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 16 September 2026

THE BSME YOUNG WRITERS' PRIZE with CAITLIN MORAN ANNOUNCES ITS INAUGURAL SHORTLIST OF 21

831 entries from across the UK. Here are the 21 that kept the judges WhatsApping each other at night.

The British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) and Caitlin Moran today announce the top 21 shortlisted writers from the inaugural BSME Young Writers' Prize with Caitlin Moran. This landmark new annual award was designed to find and champion exceptional young writing talent from across the UK aged 18-25, particularly those without traditional pathways into journalism.


From the 831 entries submitted by young writers from Aberdeen to Cornwall, a panel of leading UK magazine editors has selected 21 writers whose work stopped them in their tracks. The shortlist will be narrowed down to ten runners-up and a winner, who will be announced on our website on 23 September. The winner will be formally celebrated at the BSME Awards on 26 November, where they will receive their prize in person.

THE SHORTLIST OF 21:

Isabelle Bettis

Felix Bill

Elsie Clark

Shoshana Dahdi

Isabel Engleheart

Phoebe Evans

Amelia Foster

Zoya Gul

Aidan Gurung

Abbey Hayden

Callum Hudson

Calima Lunt Gomez

Molly McKillop

Olivia Moore

Ben Oxley

James Prout

Annabella Ritzau

Grace Ruto

Thea Scott-Turner

Caitlin Theron

Amy Williamson


Caitlin Moran, patron and final judge, said:

"Being part of the judging panel for the inaugural BSME Young Writers' Prize has been one of the true, deep joys of my life: we were blown away by the vim, skill, variety, candour, heart-break, jokes and joy of the entries. Often, the judges would be texting each other late at night with their favourite lines, and subject matters. We turned into total fan-girls and boys of these new writers.

"There aren't many under-25-year-olds in the mainstream press — and so opening our post-bag was like opening a door onto a whole new generation who are fascinatingly different, and opinionated, and witty, and truthful. There were entries that made us hoot with laughter — and, also, ones that still make us sob, even on the tenth reading.

"This Prize honours these young writers: many said they had never considered becoming magazine writers until they heard about the Prize, but are now determined to forge a career as writers. We have invited in young people who simply did not know how to enter our industry. We have opened a door; we will mentor them; we will pay them, and, to be cheesy for a minute, we will all - editors and readers - thrill to having this Class of 2026 bring something electrifyingly new to British journalism."

Dan Green, BSME chair 2026, added:

"The response has quite literally blown the bloody doors off. In our launch year we have surpassed every benchmark we had set, with 831 entries from writers in every corner of the UK. It shows that young people want to share their ideas, opinions and passions, and are keen to see their name on the byline. Narrowing that talent down to just 20 was agonising. But how much harder would it have been to discover these insanely talented new voices without the Young Writers' Prize? Now it’s time for the magazine industry to meet the new generation."

ABOUT THE PRIZE

The BSME Young Writers' Prize with Caitlin Moran was created to find brilliant young writers the industry would otherwise miss - not because they lack talent, but because the doors were never open to them. The prize specifically targets young people aged 18-25 who face barriers of geography, class, education, or simply not having the right connections.

The winner receives a cash prize, a year-long personal mentorship from Caitlin Moran, a work experience placement with a leading UK magazine editor, and appearances at Hay Festival and Latitude Festival 2027. The top ten shortlisted writers also receive a mentor session with Caitlin and will be published in a special-edition fanzine distributed to over 300 industry leaders.

The prize is supported by headline sponsor Mantis, the contextual advertising technology developed by Reach plc, alongside Anthem, Bauer, C+D, Delayed Gratification, Future, Haymarket, Ralph, Stylist, and Tickaroo. In a sign of the prize's growing momentum, Launchpad - Reach plc's new creator platform - has confirmed as headline sponsor for Years 2, 3 and 4, offering all 800+ Year 1 entrants free access to their platform, giving every young writer who entered a genuine launchpad into the industry. The winner will be announced at the BSME Awards, 26 November 2026.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Caitlin Moran

Caitlin Moran is an award-winning journalist, bestselling author, and Times columnist. She began her career in journalism as a teenager after winning the Observer Young Writer of the Year competition in 1990. Her books include How to Be a Woman, How to Build a Girl, and More Than a Woman.

About BSME

The British Society of Magazine Editors is the representative body for magazine editors across the UK, championing editorial excellence and supporting the development of magazine journalism.

About Mantis

Mantis is a contextual targeting solution developed by Reach plc, the UK's largest digital news publisher. Mantis uses AI-powered technology to deliver precise contextual advertising while ensuring brand safety. Mantis is the headline sponsor of the BSME Young Writers' Prize with Caitlin Moran Year 1.

About Launchpad

Launchpad is Reach plc's new creator platform, offering writers publishing tools, journalist mentorship, AI writing support, Getty Images access, and distribution to 40 million daily page views. Launchpad is free to creators, mobile-first, and designed to give new writers the support, visibility and earning potential that established platforms don't offer. Launchpad is the headline sponsor of the BSME Young Writers' Prize with Caitlin Moran Years 2 and 3.

Media contact:

Nathalie Ginvert

nat@bsme.com

PRESS RELEASE

9 DECEMBER 2025

Laura Whitmore, Caitlin Moran and Andrea Thompson
at the BSME Awards 2025

Award-winning journalist Caitlin Moran partners with the BSME to discover the next generation of writing talent from overlooked backgrounds

The British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) has announced the launch of the BSME & Caitlin Moran Young Writers' Prize, a new annual award designed to discover and support exceptional young writing talent aged 18-25 from across the UK.

The Prize, announced at the BSME Awards 2025 at Rosewood London, specifically targets young people who show real promise but lack the connections or financial resources typically needed to break into journalism.

Winners will receive not just prize money, but a year of personal mentorship from Caitlin Moran, work experience with leading UK editors, and genuine pathways into the industry.

Caitlin Moran said: “At fifteen, I was on a council estate in Wolverhampton, obsessed with the idea of being a writer, but clueless as to how I could get ... there. Into the rooms where it all happens. And then I won my whole career - my whole future - in a writing competition. God bless everyone behind the 1990 Observer Young Writer of the Year - who gave me my first bylines, and showed me those rooms.

Now I'm 50, I'm equally obsessed with something else - the idea of "paying on" the shot I got' plus adding bells and whistles to it. The mentorship will allow inexperienced young writers to ask the vital questions I was too scared to ask - such as, "Is it bad to make up quotes for people that you interview, if you think of something quite funny?" (Yes. Marilyn Manson will be very cross with you). And the money - the money is vital.

I know how quickly lack of cash can crush your ambition: a month after I won the Observer prize, I was offered the chance to review a gig in London - but couldn't afford the £28.42 train ticket down there. I was simply too humiliated to explain why I had to turn it down. I don't think l've ever cried more in my life. For months, I was terrified I might never work again. Thank God that, by the time I got my next offer of work in London, l'd had the presence of mind to sell my brother's skateboard, and invest the proceeds in my future.

The BSME Young Writers Competition both wants to open the door to young writers who never thought they'd get to "be in the room", and ensure they never have to sell their brothers' skateboard. I know there is talent out there that will dazzle us. In 2026, it's time to go out there, blow the trumpets, and welcome it in.”

The Prize has secured headline sponsorship from Mantis, the contextual advertising technology developed by Reach plc, demonstrating the industry's commitment to investing in emerging talent. The Prize also has support from Future PLC, Bauer, Haymarket, Stylist, Tickaroo, Anthem, The Slow Journalism Company, Ralph Magazine and C+D.

Andrea Thompson, BSME chair 2025 and editor-in-chief of Marie Claire, said: "The magazine industry is at its best when it is reflective of the diverse range of voices and experiences of our society. At the BSME, we are committed to supporting young talent from under-represented backgrounds within the industry. This initiative is about giving life-changing opportunities to brilliant young writers who lack the connections or resources to break into the magazine world but who absolutely deserve to be there. It’s been a pleasure to work with Caitlin on a prize she feels so passionately about, and which creates genuine pathways for the next generation."

The prize will launch for entries on 23 February 2026, with the winner announced at the BSME Awards in November 2026. A judging panel of top magazine editors will shortlist entries, with Caitlin Moran making the final selection.

Young writers can submit original work and a personal statement. The competition is open to anyone aged 18-25 across the UK, regardless of education or experience.

What winners receive:

  • Cash prize

  • One year of personal mentorship from Caitlin Moran

  • Internships or work experience placements with leading UK magazines or online publications

  • Highly commended writers will receive work experience opportunities

A note on privacy: All shortlisted writers have confirmed their consent to be named and published here. Entrant data is handled in accordance with UK GDPR. View our full privacy policy.