ENTRIES for The Paul Cave Prize for Children’s Literature 2025 are now open, providing an excellent opportunity to get poetry, flash fiction and short stories in front of a publisher.

Each category winner receives feedback, a cash prize and a copy of the book featuring all submitted work.

The judges are publisher Tim Saunders, former teacher Caroline Saunders and school children Harriet, Heidi and Henry. Tim, his wife and children love reading and discussing stories, often around the dining table. This makes them the perfect judges for this prize, as children are the target audience. Between them they’ll read every single submission. Unlike other contests, no AI is used whatsoever!

Entries can include all forms of poetry, flash fiction and short stories up to 5,000 words.

“The emphasis should be on providing an enjoyable reading experience with strong vocabulary and grammar while being mindful of the audience's age,” says Tim. “If the work can provide some worthwhile educational value as well then all the better.”

Entries close on February 28, 2025, with the winners announced by March 30.