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Collins Big Cat Writing Competition 2022

Entries have now closed - please look out for announcements on our winners soon!

What does home mean to you?

Over the past year or so, our physical homes have become so much more than a place to rest and recuperate as well as a space to learn and grow. We have watched the world outside and explored from the safety of our screens, embarking on adventures from our living rooms and taking a role of both sheltered and sheltering.

If you found yourself needing to travel home during the past year, maybe your adventures have looked a little different this year but maybe that helped to make the homecoming even more sweet. Maybe If you sought to build a home for yourself this year whether online or offline and maybe this has presented some unique challenges and interesting twists to the story.


Whatever it is, we want to hear your response to the question, WHAT DOES HOME MEAN TO YOU?

You can write us a story, a letter, a poem, a play; whatever it is, we cannot wait to read them.

Meet our amazing judges

Anne Fine

Anne Fine is one of the most distinguished writers for children. She has twice won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award, as well as the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Smarties Prize and numerous other regional and foreign awards.

Joanne Owen

Passionate about inspiring a love of stories in young people, Joanne Owen is the author of several books for children and young adults, among them the Martha Mayhem series, the Carnegie Medal-nominated Puppet Master, and You Can Write Awesome Stories, an activity-packed guide to creative writing.

Terms and Conditions

Entries must be original works and be no more than 500 words. Illustrations that supplement the words are also allowed. Only two entries per age category (Category 1: Ages 5-7, Category 2: Ages 8-11) allowed per school. In the event of more than 2 entries being submitted per category, only the first two entries will be accepted.

Read full T&Cs

Find out more about how to get started and take part

Creative Writing Packs

Download our Creative Writing Packs, filled with fun ideas and lesson plans here!

Download here

Creative Writing Webinar

Joanne Owen, our amazing author judge for this year's competition, takes us through some of her top tips on creative writing. 

Watch now

Recommended Readers

We've selected some of our favourite samples based around the theme to inspire your students' writing. 

Browse here