Write for Change

Hay Festival marquee at sunset


As we counted down to the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26, 1–12 November 2021, in Glasgow, we asked our audiences to join us and WRITE FOR CHANGE. Our ambition was to create an anthology of public works to inspire a better world and, throughout spring and summer 2021, we invited our audiences to submit short (100–500 word) pieces of fiction, non-fiction or poetry inspired by our opportunity for renewal.

We had an amazing 412 entries from 48 countries – our Write for Change digital map shows the range of locations where people felt inspired to write about their hopes and dreams.

We shortlisted the top 26 submissions and these can all be read along with the winning entries by clicking through on the images below

The winning two entries each received 20 Green Ideas books from our friends at Penguin. These short volumes bring together the classics of the environmental movement, including authors Rachel Carson, Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein, James Lovelock, Wangari Maathai and Greta Thunberg.

The Winner in the Over 18s category is Elnaya Mahadevi Pillian from Indonesia.

The Winner in the Under 18s category is Emmanuel Lafenwa from Nigeria.

412 Entries from 48 Countries

Map of the world with pins on 48 countries
Under 18's Shortlist and Winner
Over 18's Shortlist and Winner