Promoting Creative Writing in Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester 500 Words invites children from Year 3 to Year 6 to write a short story for an annual competition. It was created by teacher Wendi Swan to inspire children to keep writing during lockdown, and to help them to realise that they were still part of a community.

Due to the success of this award winning competition, we have decided to run this event for a further year. The competition is open to all schools in Greater Manchester.

The quality of the work over the last two years has been outstanding. There is so much talent in Greater Manchester! The prizes are are also fabulous:

  • Kindles for the winner from each year group
  • A £400 library prize for the winning pupil's school
  • Book vouchers
  • All the work of commended winners included in an anthology
  • Invitation to an Awards. Ceremony
Please see the submission pack for this year, including a PPT for teachers, a submission form and cover letter. Further information, including details of lesson plans and an online workshop will be available soon.

Good luck!

This is the cover for this year's anthology that will contain the stories from all of the winners and runners up!

How it works

Learn how the competition works.

Get Involved

Click the button to see how you can involved your school in the competition. All Manchester Primary Schools are welcome, and entry is free of charge.

Read Previous Entries

Each year, all of the stories by our winners and runnners-up are published in an anthology, and one story is produced as a video. Click the button below to view a list of previous anthologies and videos.

Past Winners

Contact Us

If you would like more information about Manchester 500 Words, you can contact us at .

Cartoon of children sat on a pile of books

Manchester 500 Words is Supported by

SEED Social Responsibility, The University of Manchester
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