Every March, we host Oundle KidLit, a special week of author events for primary school children. Timed to coincide with World Book Day, we collaborate with local primary schools to offer children a range of fun events to foster an early love of literacy and books. Alongside this we also run the Oundle KidLit Writing Competition - see full details below. Oundle Oundle KidLit 2026 will take place from March 2nd-6th.
Oundle KidLit Writing Competition 2025
We received an array of fabulous entries for this year's annual Oundle KidLit Writing Competition around a theme of 'The Earth'. You entered stories and poems. There were adventures, fantasy stories and ecological themes. You gave us aliens, fairies, mythical creatures and endangered animals. You took us from outer space to arid deserts, steamy jungles to the chilly Arctic, and from dark caves to the depths of the ocean. You made judging very difficult for us, and we loved reading every one of your entries. Congratulations to each and every one of you who entered!
Watch the Winners Announcement video below.
Some of the feedback from our wonderful winners:
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'C was so pleased when she watched the video this evening and found out she was a runner up! She was talking about story ideas before bed so can’t wait to see what she creates next! We are so fortunate to have Oundle Festival of Literature and all of the volunteers who make it all happen. Many thanks, H.'
'M is delighted, thank you!'
'Oh my goodness this has made my day, R will be ecstatic!! Thank you 😊H'
'Thank you all for running this competition. Young C will be so happy. Kind Regards S'​​​​​
Some of the feedback from our wonderful winners:
'I just wanted to say thank you so much for the lovely prize bag that you sent for X. He was absolutely thrilled to win a prize. X has had quite a tough few months, because he had to have surgery. After the surgery he wasn’t able to run, jump, swim, do PE etc for a while and he found that really hard. Writing and typing up the poem gave him something creative and positive to focus on. The surgery and everything around it definitely knocked his confidence a bit, but winning the prize for his poem has given him a huge boost and we’re so grateful for that. So thank you very much once again. Very best.'
Special thanks to Puffin -Penguin Random House and Firefly Press who supplied loads of amazing books for our winners and runners up, and to Waitrose, Oundle for contributing sweets to the goody bags. Also to Oundle Library for hosting our Easter writing workshop.
Oundle KidLit 2025 was amazing!!!
It took place Mon 3rd - Fri 7th March 2025
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Lissa Evans
Year 6 students
Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, the Costa Book Awards, the UK Literacy Award and the Branford Boase Award. The Bookseller made 'Wished' its Editor's Choice, saying: ‘A superbly funny misadventure about unexpected friendships and living life to the full.’
Jack Meggitt-Phillips
Year 4 & 5 students​
An author, scriptwriter and playwright whose work has been
performed at The Roundhouse and featured on Radio 4. Jack’s first Beast book, The Beast and the Bethany, has won over seven awards, been translated into 32 languages and a film version is in production with Warner Brothers and Harry Potter producer David Heyman.
Catherine Jacob
Reception & Year 1 students
An award winning journalist and reporter on Channel 5 news, a previous environment correspondent at Sky and now a successful children's author penning exciting rhymes with an eco-theme for early readers.
Terrie Chilvers
Year 2 students
A copywriter and social media consultant from London with a penchant for sausage dogs and eggs benedict. Her book, 'Michael -The Amazing Mind Reading Sausage Dog' was selected for the Blue Peter Book Club.
Clare Harlow
Year 3 students
'Tidemagic' was named Blackwell's Children's Book of the Month in May '24. Once upon a time, Clare was an actor, touring theatres all over the UK and Ireland, until she turned her love of storytelling from stage to page and became a writer, too. She lives in London, where she spends a lot of time walking by the river in the hope that a little Tidemagic might rub off on her.
