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 2024: Home
The Orwell Youth Prize 2023: Who’s in Control?
Winners
- Zaeema Assad – The Radcliffe Line
- Iris Mamier – Beware of the dog!’ says the man with the gun
- Lara Wong – Men’s Shoes
- Beth Anker – Meritocracy: The Politician’s Pipe Dream
- Priya Floura – Tick Tock
- Heike Ghandi – The Catharsis of a Crane
- Amelia Roles – Misconception
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
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
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
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?
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 – Yazan 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