Piers Torday is an award winning and best selling writer for children, whose work has been translated into 14 languages and adapted for the stage. Books include The Last Wild trilogy (Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize), There May Be a Castle and The Lost Magician series (Teach Primary Book Award). Plays include The Box of Delights and Christmas Carol (Wilton’s Music Hall). He co-founded the Paul Torday Memorial Prize for Debut Novelists Over 60 and has been a judge for the Guardian Prize, the British Book Awards and the Costa Book Awards. His latest book is The Wild Before.
Delighted to announce that, eight years later, there will be a prequel to THE LAST WILD.
THE WILD BEFORE will be published on August 19th 2021 with Hachette Children’s.
Drawing on themes of climate change, hope and friendship, The Wild Before returns the reader to the world of the beloved The Last Wild series, before the redeye virus has taken hold of every animal in the land, years before the events of The Last Wild have unfolded. The Wild Before tells the story of a young hare who is the world’s only hope of saving the legendary Mooncalf and avoiding certain disaster.
We had an epic number of entries, and narrowed it down to an incredible shortlist. The judges had to make a tough decision, but in the end Siri’s tale was so in the spirit of the starter – wildly imaginative, full of cool characters and exciting events from start to finish.
But a huge congratulations and thanks to all those who took part, as well as our fantastic runners up. All the entries were a testament to the extremely high standard of children’s creative writing in this country, which made us all so hopeful & positive for the future.
Siri wins £500 of books for her school library, a £50 Blackwell’s voucher for herself, a digital school visit from me, a set of signed books, and some specially designed, printed copies of her story from Hachette. An absolute writing talent to watch.
Huge thanks to all our judges, Hachette and Blackwell’s for giving so many young writers a chance to really shine.
Info: #WildAboutWriting was for children aged 7 – 12 across the UK to get creative in a new summer writing competition. They wrote a story of up to 1,000 words using this story starter:
It was midnight, and far beyond my window, a wolf in the darkness was calling my name …
There are just TWO DAYS left to enter Wild About Writing! So this week, my final writing tip for you all is on how to give your story a FANTASTIC FINISH!
These tips are for anyone entering my Wild About Writing creative writing competition which I’m bringing to you in partnership with Blackwell’s Bookshop and Hachette Children’s Group.
It’s open to 7-12 year olds and the first prize is £500 worth of books for the winning child’s school or public library. The winner will also receive a virtual visit to the school by me (as well as a selection of my books), a printed version of the wining story with a designed cover, and an invitation to a virtual prize-giving ceremony. 19 runners-up will receive a signed copy of ‘The Last Wild’ and a £10 Blackwell’s Gift Card.
Just take a look at the story starter paragraph introduced in this video from me, and then write a fictional short story of no more than 1,000 words. Submit your entry by 13th September 2020.
Happy writing and good luck! The winner will be announced in October..
For full details of this competition, please visit the competition website: www.hachettechildrens.co.uk/wildaboutwriting
Just two weeks left to enter Wild About Writing! This penultimate week my tip is about how to write a longer story than you might normally…how to write a SUPER STORY!
These tips are for anyone entering my Wild About Writing creative writing competition which I’m bringing to you in partnership with Blackwell’s Bookshop and Hachette Children’s Group.
It’s open to 7-12 year olds and the first prize is £500 worth of books for the winning child’s school or public library. The winner will also receive a virtual visit to the school by me (as well as a selection of my books), a printed version of the wining story with a designed cover, and an invitation to a virtual prize-giving ceremony. 19 runners-up will receive a signed copy of ‘The Last Wild’ and a £10 Blackwell’s Gift Card.
Just take a look at the story starter paragraph introduced in this video from me, and then write a fictional short story of no more than 1,000 words. Submit your entry by 13th September 2020.
Happy writing and good luck!
For full details of this competition, please visit the competition website: www.hachettechildrens.co.uk/wildaboutwriting
This week my writing tip is on how to fill your story with EXCITING EVENTS, that keep the reader turning the page…
These tips are for anyone entering my #WildaboutWriting creative writing competition which I’m bringing to you in partnership with Blackwell’s Bookshop and Hachette Children’s Group.
It’s open to 7-12 year olds and the first prize is £500 worth of books for the winning child’s school or public library. The winner will also receive a virtual visit to the school by me (as well as a selection of his books), a printed version of the wining story with a designed cover, and an invitation to a virtual prize-giving ceremony. 19 runners-up will receive a signed copy of ‘The Last Wild’ and a £10 Blackwell’s Gift Card.
Just take a look at the story starter paragraph introduced in this video from me, and then write a fictional short story of no more than 1,000 words. Submit your entry by 13th September 2020.
Thank you for all your brilliant story entries for my National Writing Day challenge!
It was very hard to choose a winner, but one story stood out, for its super creative response to the brief, and that was by Oliver Klumpler, who receives a full set of signed books AND £100 Book Token.
Congratulations Oli!
In the meantime, it’s still not too late to enter my Wild About Writing competition, details here:
It’s Week 2 of my #WildAboutWriting competition with Blackwell’s and Hachette Children’s. Here’s my second writing tip for every 7-12 year old trying to win £500 of books for their school library. Today I’m giving some advice on how to create Cool Characters – that spring to life on the page, keep you reading and linger in the memory after you’ve finished..
Each week of my #Wildaboutwriting competition with Blackwell’s Bookshop and Hachette Children’s I’m going to be sharing a different creative writing tip. This week, how to let your imagination really run wild!
Do you know a budding writer? I’ve teamed up with Blackwell’s to invite children aged 7 – 12 years across the UK to get creative in a new summer writing competition. The young entrants will need to write a story of up to 1,000 words using the following line from me to get them started: “It was midnight, and far beyond my window, a wolf in the darkness was calling my name …” This is their opportunity to show off their creativity and be in with a chance to win £500 worth of books for their school library along with a school event with Piers Torday, a £50 Blackwell’s voucher, signed copies of Piers Torday’s books and a small number of exclusive printed copies of their very own story for their personal enjoyment. This competition is only available to those in the UK and Republic of Ireland. All entries must be submitted before midnight on Sunday 13th September 2020. ENTER HERE: bit.ly/3ii4Bdz
It has been a strange old few months for many of us, but what has kept me going, and kept me so inspired, has been all the amazing creative writing by children.
Research by the National Literacy Trust has revealed that lockdown gave many children more time and space to write, and that nearly 40% of you were writing more often and enjoying it more. That’s a lot of stories!
I’ve also been blown away by the hundreds of responses I have had to my story starters, and so to celebrate your wonderful creativity, I’ve created an extra special summer holiday creative challenge for you all.
My publisher, Hachette Children’s Group, and I are delighted to have teamed up with Blackwell’sbookseller to invite children across the UK and Ireland to get creative in this special summer writing competition for 7-12 year olds.
We would like our young writers to write up to 1,000 words using the following line to get them started…
…they can then take the tale wherever their imagination chooses.
This is their chance to show off their creativity and be in with a chance to win £500 worth of books for their school library along with an exclusive printed copy of their winning story, with a specially designed cover. The prize also includes a school event from me (either virtually or in person, when circumstances allow) and a £50 Blackwell’s voucher. Also 19 runners up will each receive a £10 Blackwell’s voucher and a signed copy of The Last Wild.
The competition is open to residents of the UK and Republic of Ireland, from 5th August to 13th September 2020.
I’m so looking forward to reading everyone’s entries.
Good Luck!
Here is a little video from me introducing the competition and for more information on the terms and conditions and how to enter, please
UPDATE: This competition is now closed to submissions. We are reading the entries, and the winner will be announced early in October. Watch this space!
