The Portico Sadie Massey Awards
The Portico Library
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Fancy your writing being noticed? Enter the Portico Sadie Massey Awards: submit an original short story or review, showcase your voice, build your portfolio, win recognition from The Portico Library — free and anonymous. Deadline 20 March 2026.
The Portico Sadie Massey Awards is an annual young-people's literary competition run by The Portico Library with two categories: the Reading Award (book review) and the Writing Award (short story). It is open to children and young people aged 7 to 18 (Key Stages 2 65) and aims to celebrate creativity, original voices and personal viewpoint rather than technical accuracy.
Entries are accepted free of charge and must be original, written in English, and submitted anonymously (no identifying names or school). The competition provides specific word limits for each Key Stage across the writing and reading categories and reserves the right to disqualify entries believed to be AI-generated.
Submissions may be uploaded via the PSMA website form, emailed to psma@theportico. org. uk, posted to the Portico Library address, or submitted by schools using the online school entry spreadsheet.
Judges award Winners and Highly Commended in each Key Stage; successful entries are published on the PSMA website and winners are invited to a presentation event in Manchester in June 2026. Certificates are available to download and limited physical prizes may be issued within the UK.
20 Mar 2026
Submission window
Location
- Open to 7 6-18-year-olds (Key Stages 2 65)
- Free to enter; an individual may enter both the reading and writing competitions but only one entry in each
- Entry must be original and written by one entrant
- Entries will be judged on creativity and individuality, not spelling or grammar
- Entries generated by ChatGPT/AI will be disqualified
- All entries must be written in English
- No identifying names or school on the entry (entries are judged anonymously)
Free to enter. Submissions may be made via the PSMA website submission form, by email, by post, or via a school entry spreadsheet for class submissions. Certificates can be downloaded from the website. Physical items (notebooks/bookmarks) are limited and may only be issued within the UK.
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