A wide-entry literary competition for budding writers. Try yourself at any of the creative or persuasive writing styles, get your writing commented on by distinguished authors and enjoy the joint activities for the contest participants.

Deadline

March 25, 2023

Age

as of March 25, 2023
Children (up to 13yo)
Youth (14 – 18yo

Fee

No entry fee.

SUBMISSION

A wide-entry literary competition for budding writers. Try yourself at any of the creative or persuasive writing tyles, get your writing commented on by distinguished authors and enjoy the joint activities for the contest participants.

Fiction/Creative writing
Personal Narrative/Autobiography
Persuasive/Discursive Essay
Poetry

Entries are submitted by schools or individuals to mcs@xbridge.ru by March 25, 2023. Several pieces can be submitted by one participant.

The work submitted must be accompanied by proof of age (eg birth certificate).
Any works with signs of plagiarism will be dismissed.
By submitting your essay, you give permission to the organiser to publish it in any medium. Ownership of the essay remains with the entrant.

THE PANEL OF JUDGES

The works of the finalist will be judged and commented on by:

ENGLISH

Michael Oliver, aka Michael Oliver-Semenov, author of The Elephant’s Foot, and Sunbathing in Siberia a marriage of East and West in Post-Soviet Russia, is a British writer and poet, who has worked for and with the BBC, the Siberian Times and the International Journal of Cultural Intelligence. He has published in a plethora of books and journals worldwide and his poem, Council Estate Language Explained, was printed as a 3-metre exhibit for The National Gallery in 2010.

RUSSIAN

Oleg Roi — a renowned Russian writer, screenwriter, producer and public figure. Oleg has written dozens of books for adults and children, created a number of animated series for children running on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

PRIMARY JUDGES PANELS

The primary panel of judges consists of experienced educators and journalists.

ENGLISH

Siôn Tomos Owen is a Welsh freelance creative working as an illustrator and caricaturist, writer, presenter, and tutor with his company, CreaSion. He’s published prose, poetry, comics and books as well as illustrating Wales Book of the Year nominated books. He has worked extensively as a TV and Radio presenter for BBC Wales.
Series 7 of his television documentary series, "Cynefin" will be available on BBC iPlayer in April 2023.

Peter Beck is a freelance journalist, voice actor, and Theatre teacher currently based in Moscow. His writing on theatre, music, art, and literature appeared regularly in The Moscow Times between 2013 and 2018. He has made numerous appearances on BBC Radio, including as a panelist on the BBC World Service program "World Have Your Say", as a guest contributor on the inaugral broadcast of the 2018 Russia World Cup by BBC Radio 5 Live, and as a freelance correspondent for multiple local BBC affiliates.

Philip Roche, an international teacher with 20 years of experience teaching English and Literature and an author of textbooks for English Literature. He is an advisor of education boards in Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

Alexandra (Lex) Coulton. A former student of Hereford Cathedral School, I studied English and later Creative Writing at Oxford University. I have been a teacher in the UK independent sector (mostly at Highgate in London) for 20 years, as well as an examiner, educational consultant and private tutor. In 2018, my debut novel Falling Short was published by John Murray Press (Hachette UK.) It was described by Anthony Cummins in the Daily mail as ‘sparkling'.
I live in Herefordshire with my husband, John, and our four Labradors.

RUSSIAN

Marusya Mironova — editor-in-chief for Forbes Education, Russia and an author of podcasts about education. Marusya has a track record of working with Russia’s Ministry of International Affairs, Rostelecom and major companies as a journalist and PR-specialist. Forbes Education publishes expert materials about educational trends and developments, organises events with Russian and foreign universities, experts, opinion leaders and trusted professionals.

Natalia Pichugina — a philologist, has been in journalism since 2011 working with leading Russian newspapers. Since 2015 heads Noginsk information agency and in 2022 became the editor-in-chief of ‘Podmoskov'e' Publishing House.

Evgeniy Novikov has over 25 years of experience in the media of the Kursk region, collaborating with federal publications. He has a number of Federal and local awards for his work in journalism.