Best-selling author Philip Pullman will judge short stories by budding Liverpool writers in a new competition.

Primary and secondary school pupils across the city as well as University of Liverpool and XJTLU (Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University) students are being invited to enter the 500-word China Stories contest.

The competition, which has been launched ahead of this year’s Liverpool Literary Festival and also coincides with the city’s ‘China Dream’ season of Liverpool 2018 celebrations, will see awards given to first, second and third-place entrants in each of its categories.

Winning work will be published in a special anthology, and winners will also take part in a writing session with the Royal Society of Literature and receive vouchers.

Philip, who wrote the acclaimed ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy, will present winning writers with their prizes during a special ceremony at Liverpool Literary Festival, which will take place from 19-21 October.

The event forms part of an already bumper line-up of literary events, including appearances by Sur Tony Robinson; crime writer Val McDermid; playwright, novelist and poet Sebastian Barry and 2017 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, Sally Rooney.

The deadline for the free-to-enter writing competition is midnight on 20 July.

All submissions must be written in English and each writer can only enter one story.

All category details and an online submission form are available at www.liverpool.ac.uk/literary-festival/

Related posts:

Full schedule: Liverpool’s Chinese New Year celebrations Join Terrace Tapestries parade through the city River of Light celebrations returning to illuminate both sides of Mersey Artist chosen to create £10,000 Eleanor Rathbone tribute Horse show confirms arena return after car park blaze marred 2017 event Castle-like cardboard structures to be built across the city region