Tuesday 23 April 2024

Spark Young Writers Magazine

Here is the latest information:

Spark Young Writers Magazine Is Out Now

Issue 28: April 2024 of Spark Young Writers Magazine is now out

The magazine features some of the best writing produced by children and young people aged 8 to 20 who live in the West Midlands region.

Editor’s pick this issue is a piece by Sabine titled "Delphi"

To read Issue 28, click here. To access it as a pdf, click here.

Read the magazine

Letter From Our Editor

Sometimes if I’m in a school or running a writing session and the young writers look like I’ve set them something impossible, I will say: “Would I ask you to do something I couldn’t do myself?”

The smart ones always say yes – and of course they’re right, of course I would. There’s no point having a group of writers if you can’t get them to write more or better than you.

But for this issue of Spark Young Writers Magazine, there is one piece I truly do not comprehend how it could be done. Take a look at “Winter Renga": it’s the magazine’s first-ever group-written piece and it’s tremendous.

I’d say that so many of this issue’s pieces are tremendous, but then that’s the point: they have to be or they don’t get in.

Yet of them all, it was still easy to pick “Delphi” by Sabine as the Editor’s Choice. It’s intentionally simple and stark, but O’Mahoney clearly knows that writing is both about the words you use and the words you don’t, because it’s the unspoken sense of loss that will stay with you.

William Gallagher

Editor

Editor's Choice: Delfi

Read Issue 28

Submit Now For Our Winter Magazine

Submissions for the winter edition of the Spark magazine are now open. The deadline for receipt of writing is: 6pm, November 11, 2024.

Magazine submission guidelines

· Submit up to 3 pieces (any form of creative writing) of no more than 500 words.

· Name of child. Full name preferred, but we will accept just a first name.

· Title for piece.

· No extracts – complete pieces only.

· You must either attend a Spark Young Writers group, or live or study in the West Midlands.

We ask for a parent’s email address which we will use to ask for consent to publish any writers who are under 18. For parents completing the form, if the young writer has an email address please include it and we will also send confirmation to that address.

Issue 29 of Spark Young Writers Magazine will be published in December 2024. This issue of the magazine has no prescribed theme.

Not all pieces submitted will be accepted. However, all submissions are acknowledged with constructive criticism offered by our professional editor. We will make minor edits to spelling, punctuation and grammar, to improve readability where necessary.

Submit Now

Did you know that Spark Young Writers is on Instagram, Facebook and X (Twitter)?

Each week we will be posting a new piece from the magazine. Follow us now to stay up to date with competitions, opportunities, and sneak peaks of Spark Young Writers' upcoming sessions.

Instagram - @thesparkwriters