Are you a young person with a knack for writing? Or does your kid love telling stories? We've got prizes to give away to Luxembourg's next generation of authors!

Several years ago now, back in the halcyon days of 2023, we happened upon a post in a Facebook group for parents, asking for places where young authors could get their stories published. Given that we love writing and storytelling, we immediately sprang to action, teamed up with Ernster, and kicked off the first annual Young Authors Contest.

To our absolute delight, the contest was an immediate success and we received far more submissions – and, subsequently, votes to crown a winner – than we could ever have hoped. You can still check out the 2024 finalists and the 2023 finalists.

The contest returned for its second edition in 2024, and both RTL Today and Ernster thought it was time to go even bigger – so we added not only a prize ceremony at the Walferdange Book Days, but we also went ahead and put together a book featuring all of the stories! With one fell swoop we not only created the perfect Christmas gift – but also turned all of the wonderful writers into legitimate published authors.

We are so very excited to announce that we will be doing exactly the same thing this year. This means that by entering the contest with a story, you are:

  • Guaranteed* to have your writing featured in the upcoming book;
  • In with a chance to have your story read on Today Radio by one of our fantastic hosts (all finalists are recorded and played on the radio, and replay is available on RTL Today);
  • In the running to win one of the fantastic prizes below;
  • As a prize winner, given the opportunity to attend and receive a prize on stage at our award ceremony;
  • Guaranteed to receive (if desired) a 'Certificate of Most Excellent Participation' regardless of how you place in the contest.

Now, how does this actually work, you ask? On to the details!

*We can only include stories that meet our contest rules and which were submitted within the deadline.

Prizes

Ernster have provided perfect prizes for Luxembourg's literary youth: vouchers to be used in any of their shops! Since we have two age categories (more on that below), we're going to have two winners, two second places, and two third places, for six total prizes.

First prize is a €125 voucher
Second prize is a €75 voucher
Third prize winners both win €50 vouchers.

Age categories

We have two age categories for this contest, as it seemed a bit unfair to have the littlest authors competing against ones who may be twice their age.

The first category is for children aged up to 11 (including 11-year-olds).

The second category is open to authors aged 12-16.

Contest structure

Submissions are open from today (see rules below), 15 June until 1 August.

Once submissions close, our esteemed jury will shortlist five stories from each age category.

These are our finalists, and they will be recorded and played on radio plus available for listening and reading on RTL Today.

There will be a public vote from 31 August until 7 September (one week!) to crown the winners of the 2025 edition of the children's writing contest.

The winner will be announced at our prize ceremony... details of which we will share shortly!

Contest rules

The rules are simple: We are looking for short stories written by young authors, and there is no particular theme to which they have to adhere. So long as the stories spring from their minds, they can be entered into the contest!

The rules are:

  1. Only stories written by the contestant can be entered into the contest;
  2. Stories have to be a maximum 300 words in length and written in English;
  3. Stories have to be submitted by the contestant's parents – we will ask for a parent's contact details as well;
  4. No AI stories, no stories written by parents, and no copying from stories published elsewhere;
  5. Only one story per contestant can be submitted.

How do I submit my (child's) story?

The 2025 submission window is unfortunately closed - but rest assured that there will be another edition of the contest in 2026. In the meanwhile, stay tuned to vote for our finalists and, of course, buy a copy of the 2025 book!

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