source: www.cam.ac.uk
The shortlist for the 2025 BBC Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University was announced Sunday 14 September, live on BBC Radio 1’s Life Hacks.
This year’s shortlist, with work that experiments with voice and violence, bodies and gender, things unspoken and unspeakable, feels especially timely. These are stories that look both outwards and inwards, and which confront the reader powerfullyDr Elizabeth Rawlinson-Mills
Now in its 11th year, the Award invites young people aged 14-18 from across the UK to submit stories of up to 1,000 words. It was created to discover and inspire the next generation of writers and is a cross-network collaboration between BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 4.
This year’s shortlist features five young female writers whose stories explore contemporary themes ranging from toxic masculinity and inter-generational relations to climate change, power and responsibility. Praised as ‘beautifully subversive,’ ‘nuanced’ and ‘mature,’ the shortlisted works range from a dark tale told from the perspective of a black cat to a mythological retelling of the climate crisis, a lyrical portrait of three generations of women cooking together, a supernatural ‘housewife’s revenge’ story, and a sharp look at peer pressure and toxic masculinity
Dr Elizabeth Rawlinson-Mills, University Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Fellow of Robinson College, said:
“It’s a pleasure once again to read these remarkable and often startling stories. We have become accustomed to the shortlisted stories for the YWA offering us reassuring evidence of young writers’ skill and ambition. This year’s shortlist, with work that experiments with voice and violence, bodies and gender, things unspoken and unspeakable, feels especially timely. These are stories that look both outwards and inwards, and which confront the reader powerfully. The University of Cambridge is extremely proud to support the Young Writers Award.”
The shortlisted stories are:
- ‘Wildfolk Report 2025’ by Holly Dye, 17, from Tunbridge Wells
- ‘Adu, Lasun and Marcha’ by Anoushka Patel, 18, from Leicester
- ‘Roast Beef’ by Edith Taussig, 17, from New Malden, Greater London
- ‘The Omen’ by Anna Tuchinda, 17, from Thailand, an international student in Edinburgh
- ‘Scouse’s Run’ by Rebecca Smith, 17, from Sheffield
The five stories will be available to listen to on BBC Sounds, read by actors including Amit Shah, Maggie Service, Priya Kansara, Sam Pitcher and Andy Clark. Interviews with the writers are also available to listen to, and can be read on the BBC Radio 1 website.
The winner will be announced at the BBC Short Story Awards ceremony at Broadcasting House on Tuesday 30 September, broadcast live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, with the winning writer also appearing on Radio 1’s Life Hacks.
Cambridge involvement
The University’s support for the Award in 2025 generously comes from the School of Arts and Humanities, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Faculties of English and Education, Downing and Robinson Colleges, the University Library, the Fitzwilliam Museum, and the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Professional and Continuing Education (PACE).
The partnership also offers unique professional development opportunities for Cambridge PhD students, who take part in a BBC shadowing scheme, gaining experience in cultural engagement and public communication.
Cambridge’s long-term partnership with both the BBC National Short Story Award and the BBC Young Writers’ Award, is led by Dr Bonnie Lander Johnson (Fellow and Associate Professor in English at Downing and Newnham Colleges) and Dr Elizabeth Rawlinson-Mills (University Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Fellow of Robinson College).
Dr Lander Johnson said:
“The National Short Story Awards continue to be the largest and most prestigious awards of their kind in the UK. I am proud to represent the University on this partnership; I believe we have a role to play in supporting the production of literary excellence in Britain. Storytelling is an essential human impulse through which we reflect on our changing world, inspire younger generations, and make sense of our collective and individual lives. It is essential that Cambridge University remains part of such crucial cultural work. Who are we if we cannot tell our stories?”
About the Award
Since its launch in 2015, the BBC Young Writers’ Award has highlighted some of the most talented young voices in the country. Previous winners include Lottie Mills, Tabitha Rubens, Elena Barham, Atlas Weyland Eden and Lulu Frisson, with many going on to secure further prizes, publications and acclaim.
The 2025 judging panel is chaired by Radio 1 presenter Lauren Layfield, joined by poet and former Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho, novelist Jessica Moor, poet Matt Goodfellow, and 2020 Young Writers’ Award winner Lottie Mills.
For more information, visit www.bbc.co.uk/ywa.
The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright ©University of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.