Entry Kit, the type is in black and written on a yellow background

Creative Student Prize: Entry Kit

Everything you need to know before submitting your response to the Creative Student Prize.

Thinking about your response

Your submission should be a response to the question: what place do books have in your world?

There’s no right answer to this question, and you can approach it any way you like.

You could think about the role books and stories play at school or in your home, whether they have an impact on your personal life, or how you feel representation in books impacts society and the wider world.

You can also use these findings from research published by Lit in Colour as a starting point for your submission – for example, under 1% of GCSE students in England study a book by an author of colour, and only 7% study a book by a woman.

How should I submit?

We're accepting submissions in a number of formats:

  • Essay (up to 800 words)
  • Short story (up to 800 words)
  • Poetry (up to 300 words)
  • Video or TikTok (mp4 video format, 3 minutes long)
  • Illustration, photography or artwork (jpeg, png or PDF format)

We'll also ask you to write up a short synopsis to contextualise your application.

If you've read our top tips and are ready to apply, fill out our application form by Friday 17 September.

Terms & conditions

1.       By entering this competition, you agree to accept and be bound by these terms and conditions. 

All entry instructions form part of the terms and conditions of this competition. 

 

2.       This competition is open to anyone aged 14 to 18 who is a resident of the UK, except for employees of Penguin Random House Group (Promoter), its subsidiary companies, their families and any other company connected with the competition (Entrant).

 

3.       Entries must be received by 23:59 BST on Friday 17th September 2021 (Closing Date).   Entries that are illegible, incomplete, corrupted or which fail to be received by the Closing Date for any reason, will not be considered.  Promoter is not responsible for entries delayed or lost in the post. Proof of postage is not proof of receipt. Automatically generated entries or entries via agents or third parties are invalid and shall not be considered. Submitted entries shall not be returned.

 

4.       Entries may be submitted by an individual or a group, but there must only be one entry per person or group. No Entrant may win more than one prize.

 

5.       To enter, Entrant must answer the following question, “What Place do Books have in Your World?”, by way of one of the following:

 

  • Essay of up to eight hundred (800) words; or
  • Short story of up to eight hundred (800) words; or
  • Poem of up to three hundred (300) words; or
  • Video or TikTok entry of between fifteen (15) seconds to one (01) minute via a link, e.g. TikTok link or Dropbox; or
  • Illustration/artwork of up to two (02) images via a link, e.g. Dropbox or WeTransfer.

 

Entries must be uploaded by filling in your details via the online form at https://www.penguin.co.uk/campaigns/lit-in-colour/students.html.

 

6.       All correctly completed entries will be forwarded to an independent judging panel.  The winner will be the entry that in the opinion of the judges is the most original, compelling and best shows the Entrant to be a great communicator (Winner).

 

7.       The prize shall be awarded in accordance with the following tiers:

  • Ten (10) shortlisted submissions shall receive a goodie bag as well as have their shortlisted entry featured on Penguin.co.uk;
  • 3rd Prize: Beats by Dre headphones plus Lit in Colour audiobook package;
  • 2nd Prize: Beats by Dre headphones plus Lit in Colour audiobook package;
  • 1st Prize: MacBook Air with one year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud suite.

 

(individually and together, the Prize)

The Prize must be claimed within three (03) months of the notification from Promoter.  The Prize is non-transferable and no cash alternative will be offered.

 

8.       Events may occur which render the awarding of the Prize impossible due to reasons beyond the control of Promoter and Promoter may, at its absolute discretion, vary, amend or suspend with or without notice. 

 

9.       Winner will be notified by email as follows:  

 

  • by Wednesday 13th October 2021 in respect of the ten (10) shortlist winners; and
  • by Wednesday 22nd October 2021 in respect of the top three (03) Prize winners.

 

Winner must claim their Prize within thirty (30) days of Promoter sending notification. If the Prize is unclaimed after this time, it will lapse and Promoter reserves the right to offer the unclaimed Prize to a substitute Winner selected in accordance with these terms and conditions.

 

10.   Other than those specified above, Promoter shall not be liable for any costs or expenses arising out of or in any way connected with this Prize and does not accept any responsibility for any damage, loss or disappointment suffered by the Winner as result of accepting this Prize.

 

11.   By entering this competition each Entrant confirms that his/her entry is their wholly-owned creation and to the extent that such entry makes use of any third party materials, that these have been fully cleared unless they are no longer protected by copyright or other intellectual property rights.  Entrant will keep Promoter harmless from any claims that the entry infringes the personal or proprietary right of any other person.  By submitting an entry, each Entrant (or their parent/guardian on their behalf) grants to Promoter a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to edit, publish, translate, modify, adapt, make available and distribute the entry throughout the world in any media now known or hereafter invented.  Each Entrant (or their parent/guardian on their behalf) undertakes to complete any necessary documentation to formalise the licence. If you do not want to grant us these rights, please do not submit materials to us.

 

12.   By entering this competition, Entrants consent to the use of their personal data by Promoter for the purposes of running the competition as detailed in these terms and conditions.  Details on how we process the personal data of Entrants can be found in our Privacy Policy ((http://penguin.co.uk/company/about-us/notices/privacy-policy/full-privacy-policy.html)).

 

13.     We will make Winner’s name and county available on Promoter’s website.  If you do not want your name and county to be made available in the event that you win, please let us know by emailing Litincolour@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk.  Please note we are required to make Winner’s details available to the ASA if requested.

 

14.   Promoter’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into in relation to the competition.

 

15.   Promoter may disqualify any Entrant whose entry does not comply with these terms and conditions (in Promoter’s sole opinion) or who, in Promoter’s sole determination, has acted in a manner that is fraudulent, dishonest or unjust to other Entrants including, without limitation, tampering with the operation of the competition, manipulating or rigging votes, hacking, deceiving, using multiple accounts to submit multiple entries, cheating or by harassing or threatening other Entrants, the panel or a representative of Promoter.

 

 

16.   This competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by or associated with Instagram, Twitter or TikTok.  You acknowledge that all information and material that you submit to enter this competition is submitted to Promoter and not Instagram and you agree that Instagram shall not be liable to you in any way in respect of this competition.

 

17.   These terms and conditions are subject to English Law and the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

 

18.   Promoter’s contact details are: Penguin Random House, One Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens, London SW11 7BW

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