Winners and book revealed at Walferdange Book Days ceremony

The Young Authors Contest was created by RTL Today and Ernster in 2023 to give young writers an opportunity to share their creativity with the world. For this year's edition, we thought these blossoming talents deserved an extra moment in the spotlight, which is why we revealed the winners at the very first Young Authors Contest ceremony, which took place – quite appropriately – during the 2024 Walfer Bicherdeeg (Walferdange Book Days fair).

The awards were presented by Today Radio's Sam Steen and Vanessa Gubbini from Ernster Publishing.

In the 'Up to 11 years old' category, Caroline Dauphinee was the winner with 'The Wonderful Adventures of Princess Laura'.

Alicia Frias took second place, and Vasiliki Iaponas rounded out the podium.

Caroline Dauphinee, winner of the "Up to 11 years" category, with Today Radio's Sam Steen and Ernster's Vanessa Gubbini

The '12 to 16 years old' category awarded Shruthi Nataraj's 'Finding Sanctuary' with top honours.

Almira Kavyu and Oriana-Mara Ciobanu came in second and third place, respectively.

Shruthi Nataraj, winner of the "12 to 16 years old" category of the RTL and Ernster Young Authors Contest

The winners took the stage, with their stories being read to the audience, and all three received vouchers from Ernster, a certificate and another, very special, prize:

For a writer, there are few feelings better than to be able to leaf through a freshly printed copy of their work and, with than in mind, RTL and Ernster revealed "Young Authors 2024 – 61 short stories" – a compilation of this year's Contest entries, written by our talented young writers.

They were able to take home the fruits of their imagination... and so can you, as the book is now officially available at Ernster's bookstores and through their website. It is a collection that celebrates the imagination and creativity of young minds, and RTL is immensely proud of all of these talented writers.