In collaboration with Lambeth and Southwark Libraries
In collaboration with Lambeth and Southwark Libraries
Future Stories: One Day in 2070
Calling young writers with something to say! ‘Future Stories’ is a writing competition and series of writing workshops for young people aged 11 to 16 who have a story to tell about life in the future
Competition Details
29th June – 27th September 2020
Free to submit
Contact Southwark Libraries:
Elaine Walters
Southwark.libraries@southwark.gov.uk
Contact Lambeth Libraries:
Sandra Davidson
‘Future Stories: One Day in 2070’ is a writing competition for young people (aged 11-16) to tell a story about the future.
Imagine it is 50 years from now in 2070; what will the world look like? Who lives there? You? A friend? A pet? Does it feel magical? Scary? Exciting? Where and how do people live, travel, and communicate? What do people learn at school, do for work, or do for fun?
Once you have made your setting, imagined a world beyond today, we want you to tell us a story about how someone (or something!) spends the day in this future place. Who do they meet? What do they do? Do they get in trouble, save the day, or a bit of both?
Where we work at King's College London a lot of time and money is being spent on creating new technologies or discovering scientific knowledge that could change the world forever. But in this writing competition we want to hear your voice – your hopes and fears about the future through written word.
You can write in whatever style you like – it could be a short story, a poem, a graphic novel, or even a newspaper article – just so long as it is inspired by the future and no longer than 1000 words.
It is not necessary to have good spelling or perfect grammar to enter the competition. Entries will be judged on originality and creativity.
Let your imagination loose and enjoy!
Who can enter
You need to be between 11 and 16 years old and live, study, or go to a young people’s centre or Library in Southwark or Lambeth.
The competition is free.
The prizes
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Ten of the most creative writers be selected to take part in a creative writing day, exploring the world of the future with writer Stephen Oram in October.
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Finalists will also receive a £30 Book Voucher.
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All entries will be put into a prize draw to win either a Build Your Own Robot Kit or Book Voucher worth £15.
If you are one of our 10 finalists or a prize draw winner, you will be contacted through the email address or phone number you provided on your submission form in the week beginning 5th of October 2020.
The rules
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1000-word limit (including the title) or no more than 8-minutes reading/performance (approximately 125 words per minute)
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Entrants must be aged between 11-16 years old when entering the prize
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Ensure that all entries are submitted on the end of a completed submission form
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Entries can be hand-written or typed
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It is not necessary to have good spelling or perfect grammar to enter the Competition
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Entries will be judged on originality and creativity
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Open only to young people who live, study, or attend a young people’s centre or Library in Lambeth or Southwark.
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By entering the competition, you consent to Utopia Now (King’s College London) using your story as anonymised research data.
How to submit
Download and complete the entry form.
For Southwark Libraries: Email your entries with the subject titled ‘One Day in 2070 Competition FAO E Walters’ to: Southwark.libraries@southwark.gov.uk by Sunday 27 September 2020
For Lambeth Libraries: Email your entries with the subject titled ‘One Day in 2070 Competition FAO S Davidson’ to: SDavidson@lambeth.gov.uk by Sunday 27 September 2020
Writing resources
Need some inspiration to get your entry started? Our 7-day Story Starter Challenge will help you to explore the world of Science Fiction and spark your imagination.
You will learn how to tell a sci-fi story in any creative writing style, find inspiring tools and prompts to let your writing loose, and be challenged to write your story or poem in 7 days!
Meet our judges
Stephen Oram
Stephen Oram is a near-future science fiction writer, who has previously worked with King’s researchers to explore possible future outcomes of their research through short stories. He has worked with scientists from different disciplines, social scientists, technology experts, artists and the general public to create scenarios in which to locate short stories that bring their work and their perspectives and issues to life. He is lead curator for near-future fiction at Virtual Futures and a writer for sci-fi prototyping company SciFutures. He is published in several anthologies, has two published novels and two collections of sci-fi shorts. Eating Robots and Other Stories was described by the Morning Star as one of the top radical works of fiction in 2017.
Elaine Walters
Southwark Libraries and Heritage are pleased to support this initiative for young people.
Dr Christine Aicardi
Christine Aicardi is senior research fellow in King’s College London Foresight Laboratory, Department of Global Health & Social Medicine. Christine worked for many years in the Information and Communication Technologies industry before returning to higher education to pursue a PhD in Science and Technology Studies at University College London. Before joining the Ethics and Society programme of the EU’s Human Brain Project over six years ago, she was a Wellcome Library Research Fellow, working on the contemporary history of neuroscience.
Sandra Davidson
Lambeth Libraries are pleased to support this initiative for young people.