Hive South Yorkshire are hosting a photo-themed creative writing competition for young people aged 14 to 25 from across Yorkshire. Each person can submit up to 3 pieces of work that can be poetry or stories. There is no theme, but the creative writing must be inspired by one of twenty photographs that Hive have chosen. Entries can be submitted anytime between now and the deadline of midnight on the evening of 4th Jan 2019. Work will be judged by Ian McMillan, British poet and radio presenter, and Angela Readman, a short story writer, and poet. The work will be judged in the following age categories: 14 – 16, 17 – 19, 20 – 25. There are prizes to be awarded including a Kindle Fire HD, writer kits for budding young writers, and all 3 winners in each category will be offered professional feedback, and have their work published in Hive’s 2018 young writers’ anthology. See the 20 images, plus prompt ideas and tips to get you started on the Hive website: http://www.hivesouthyorkshire.com/competition

Over 900 local children came together today (11 Oct 2018) to celebrate having fun while reading, learning and creating at the Doncaster Book Award Launch. This huge event was held at Doncaster Dome and included inspiring author talks from Andy Stanton who wrote ‘Natboff’ and the ‘Mr Gum’ series, Kiran Millwood Hargrave - Waterstones Children’s Book Prize Winner 2017 - who wrote ‘The Girl of Ink & Stars’ and ‘The Island at the End of Everything’, and Andy Cope doctor of happiness who is responsible for the ‘Spy Dog’ books and his new book ‘Diary of a Brilliant Kid. Another star guest included Martin Brown the illustrator of all the ‘Horrible Histories’ books who showcased his talents by drawing live. This is the fifteenth year of the Doncaster Book Award, which is all about encouraging children and young people, from both primary and secondary school, to read and review a recommended list of books throughout the school year. There are prizes for the best review each month until the finale and a prize for best overall reviews.   Schools that are signed up will be able to help young people to get involved, however, all young people in Doncaster can take part as the long-listed books will be available to loan for free at Doncaster Libraries and reviews can be posted directly to the Doncaster Book Award website.   If you are a school that would like to take part contact lynnecoppendale@doncasterbookaward.net To see the long-listed books, or to find out more about the Doncaster Book Awards visit: www.doncasterbookaward.net   

The Young Artists Collection is a new annual competition from IVE. It seeks to find talented young artists and give them opportunities to showcase their work and make some money from it.

How does it work?

• The young artists make a piece of visual art inspired by this year’s theme of Yorkshire. • Enter the competition by sending a photo of the finished piece and a complete application form to hello@weareive.org before the deadline: 30 May 2018 (at 23:59) • In early June a panel of judges will select 50 pieces to enter the Young Artists Collection. • Winners will be notified in early July and invited to attend an Art Market where their work will be on display to be purchased by local businesses. The artist gets 60% of the money from that sale and the rest is used to fund IVE’s charitable work providing creative opportunities for disadvantaged young people.

How much does it cost?

Nothing. There is no entry fee for the young artist. Nothing for schools or arts organisations to pay.

Who is it for?

Anyone aged 11-18 who can produce any kind of visual art. It’s not just a school’s thing, it’s open to any young person in the UK.

How will the panel pick the winners?

The panel will be looking for work that demonstrates technical artistic skill (taking into account the age of the entrant), imagination, creativity and that responds to the theme of this year’s contest which is Yorkshire.

Who are the panel?

Jonathan Straight – street photographer and trustee at IVE Mat Lazenby – Creative Director at LazenbyBrown Amanda Phillips – Education Officer at Leeds Art Gallery Leannda Best – photography undergraduate at Leeds University Visit the IVE website to see the full terms and conditions and download your application form https://weareive.org/talent-development-programme/young-artists-collection/