The Writers Competition is now closed to entries. Winners will be announced at Petersfield Eco Fair on Sunday 14th July!
The winner of PeCAN's Young Writers Competition will be announced at Petersfield Eco Fair on Sunday 14th July at 2pm, with prizes and publication in local print and radio.
Non Fiction
'Ten Minutes in Nature'
A piece of no more than 250 words that makes the reader long to share in your experience. Use all your senses to describe a special place - as wide as the South Downs or as close up as a bumble bee on a wildflower. Do say on the form if you have any photos or pictures, giving permission for PeCAN to use them if appropriate.
Fiction
'Green Flash Fiction'
A story of no more than 400 words - where climate, sustainability, rewilding, recycling are PART of the world, but not the WHOLE story. It could be one of the characters, the location, a theme. Have fun with this. Maybe it’s your best dramatic moment where nature or eco themes are featured: just be sure to make this clear. Perhaps a couple fall in love digging their allotment, or a child makes a grandparent’s tree special...
Non-Fiction Judge - Roger Morgan-Grenville
Roger Morgan-Grenville is a writer and campaigner on nature and regeneration. He helps run the charity Curlew Action, and in 2022 he walked 1,000 miles across Britain to meet the people restoring our nature. His latest book, The Return of the Grey Partridge: Restoring Nature on the South Downs was published in April.
Roger’s advice is: Be yourself. Be honest. Write what you genuinely care about.
Fiction Judge - Barbara Henderson
Barbara Henderson is the award-winning author of eleven books. Her historical and eco-fiction is widely studied in schools and has won several prizes, including two Young Quills Awards from the Historical Association. She has just completed a year as Forth Bridge Writer in Residence. Barbara is based in Inverness in the beautiful Highlands of Scotland where she teaches Drama. She loves to help connect young people with the natural world, and with the past – her two chief obsessions!
Barbara’s advice is: Play with different ideas – your first thought is rarely the most interesting one. Choose interesting characters, or an unusual setting. Surprise me and take me to a viewpoint or place I didn’t know that I wanted to know about.
Head Judge - Suzie Wilde
Author of Viking Trilogy and Guardian Book of the Month The Book of Bera, Suzie has an MA with Distinction in Creative Writing and now edits and teaches writing for all ages and genres. She presents Talking Books with Tim O’Kelly of One Tree Books for Shine Radio Petersfield and is a trustee of PeCAN with special interest in regenerative farming, soil and earthworms! She is usually walking the South Downs with two Labradors.
