Read the winning work from our young writers. You can also find out more about our previous themes by clicking on the prize year.
The Orwell Youth Prize 2022: Coming Up For Air
Winners
- Blackpool – Cerys Shanks
- Hi! Yes, Western World Speaking – Toni Agbede
- Out Of Time? – Jennifer Wolfe
- The Power of One – Oluwatoni Adesanya
- Destination – Underwater – Evie Alam
- The Law of the Jungle – Aarushi Dahiya
- The Ethics of a KitKat – Ruby McIntee
Runners up
- The Milk River – Creagh Factor
- Air Cannot Save Air – Alexander Prvulovich
- 2054 – Eleanor Mead
- The Conundrum of the Fossils – James Lomax
- Push The Button – Noah Dryden-Pell
- Shein, the Self, and Sustainability – Maia Betts
- Women and Climate Change – Ruby Kalayil Peacock
The Orwell Youth Prize 2021: A New Direction
Winners
- ‘Work Experience as a Young Campaigner’ – Jude Leese
- ‘The Quiet Revolution’ – Max Baker
- ‘Two for Joy’ – Isabella Rew
- ‘New Hair, Who Dis (Dear Mrs Johnson)’ – Faith Falayi
- ‘It’s Not Your Fault’ – Katie Sherley
- ‘A New Direction: Starting Small by Creating Norfolk Wetlands‘ – William Walker
- ‘On Keeping a Time Capsule’ – Jennifer Yang
- ‘A Small Thing’ – Anya Edgerton
Runners up
- ‘Mending the Safety Net’ – Ruby Alexander
- ‘A New Direction: Starting Small’ – Marnie Rauf
- ‘Notes on Being Black.’ – Laurell Jarrett Anderson
- ‘Equality in Education’ – Marnie McPartland
- ‘Why?’ – Varscha Arul
- ‘The Voting Booth’ – Charlie Owen
The Orwell Youth Prize 2020: The Future We Want
Winners
- Knifepoint, Jessica Tunks
- Streets in the Sky, Rosaleen Tite Ahern
- How many people does it take to change? (The World), Maya Stokes
- What we lost, Lauren Debruin
- Not so welcome break, Tom Finlayson
- You are what you eat, Hugh Ludford
- To the boy who’s considered my equal, Helen Chick
Runners up
- The Future, Molly Hammerton-Woodhouse
- The Michelin Woman, Naomi Thomas
- The Poverty Pandemic, Manal Nadeem
- Designing for Distance, Madeleine Hobern
- Perpetual, Grace Donaldson
- Ocean Blue, Ethan Skinner
- What he left me with, Mya Basiime
- A Love Symphony to the World, Jamie See
- Here there are no people, Noah Robinson
The Orwell Youth Prize 2019: A Fair Society?
Winners
- Silke Dale Brosig, Teeth
- Francesca Morgan, The Faceless Drug
- Tom Warburton, The Man on the Side
- Nadia Lines, The Aptitude Test Kid
- Jessica Johnson, A Band Apart
- Theo Burman, Why Did You Organise the Protest?
Runners up
- Sidra Hussain, Equal Importance
- Elizabeth Tappin, Sewn Shut
- Rosie Lewis, Care in the Community
- Megan Robinson, Dignity
- Clarissa Murphy, Through His Eyes
- Jazmine Bennett, Disable-Bodied
- Asher Gibson, Brick Lane: A Case Against Social and Ethnic Exclusion in the UK
- Cia Mangat, Britain
- Devki Panchmatia, The Interview
- Rhianna Prewett, Out of Body, Out of Mind
Winners
- Be Cynical – Ammarah Yasin
- The Promise of Thunder – Scarlett Pygott
- Mind the Gap – Molly Elliott
- Colony Collapse Disorder – Niamh Weir
- The Truths We Want To Hear – Joe Atkinson
- Be Glad It’s Not On Your Forehead – Manal Ali
Winners
- Losing the Identity of ‘Muslim’ – Anisah Kasim
- To Leave or Not to Leave – Jack Pollard
- Lost Boys: Identity Edit – Molly Elliott
- A Million Drops of Water – Jamie Toeg
- Different – Yasmin O’Mahoney
- The Eyes – Lydia Houghton
Winners
- Victims of a Map – Carla Mufid and Kanaar Askari
- Voice of a Benefits Claimant – Anna Morris
- ‘If Liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear’ – Alexander Butcher
- Are we setting children up to fail? – Ben Ettridge
- Gray Area: A Spoken Word Poem – Celia Bergin
- Liberty for the Builder’s Son – Charissa Cheong
- Hide and Seek – Emily Wicks
Winners
- Will you starve that they be better fed? – Vidya Ramesh, age 18
- Was Scargill Right? – Sam Hill, age 18
- Tribunal fees are a silent bedroom tax – James Sweetland, age 16
- Figures of Grey – Owen Dearman, age 16
- Anorexia Joined Our School Today – Lucy Thynne, age 14
- Repercussions of Deceit – Qianyun Liang, age 15