Accepting Applications
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 15 SEPTEMBER 2025
AWARDS CEREMONY: 26 OCTOBER 2025
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A World of Wonder
Travel beyond the everyday and open the door to magic, mystery, and the extraordinary—where anything is possible. From enchanted forests to hidden corners of the city, from secret passageways to talking animals, imagine new places, discover surprises in familiar ones, and create stories full of adventure, curiosity, and delight.
Choose from story writing or poetry writing (or both) following the theme A World of Wonder.
Get started
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Calculate your event age using the calculator below
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Choose from both or either of your age's Story and/or Poetry Writing prompts
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Your poem must use the title offered in the prompt and your prose must begin with the starting phrase offered in the prompt
About the Festival
The Creative Writing Festival is a Hong Kong-wide creative writing competition organised by the Hotung Mills Education Foundation and the English-Speaking Union (Hong Kong). It invites young writers to explore their creativity and English writing skills through poetry and prose. Participants are invited to an an annual awards ceremony, during which they have the opportunity to interact with local and international authors and literary judges, receive prizes, and befriend fellow young writers.
The English-Speaking Union, headquartered in London and New York, is an international organisation whose mission is to promote local and international friendship and cooperation by encouraging the wider use of the English language.
Find Your Event Age
The event age is the age your child will be on submission deadline, 15 September 2025
Please note that your child's event age and current age may not be the same
Please select one of the prompts from the list below. The prompt should reflect your child's event age, even if that differs from your child's current age.
Poetry Writing
5
Age
30 - 50 words
Title: When the Moon Wears Pyjamas
Poetry Writing
7
Age
50 - 70 words
Title: The Train That Runs on Rainbows
Poetry Writing
9-10
Age
70 - 90 words
Title: See It to Believe It!
Story Writing
5
Age
100 - 150 words
Title: The Cloud Playground
Starting line: "High above the sky, where the clouds glow and bounce like pillows, there’s a playground no grown-up has ever seen ...
Story Writing
7
Age
200 - 250 words
Title: The Midnight Zoo
Starting line: "Every night at midnight, when the city sleeps, the old zoo gates creak open and animals made of stardust come out to play ..."
Story Writing
9-10
Age
300 - 350 words
Title: The Elevator to Elsewhere
Starting line: " The button marked “?” had never worked before. But today, when Alex pressed it, the elevator shook, blinked, and began to go somewhere that wasn’t on any floor ..."
Poetry Writing
6
Age
40 - 60 words
Title: The Day the Crayons Came Alive
Poetry Writing
8
Age
60 - 80 words
Title: The Map that Draws Itself
Poetry Writing
11-12
Age
80 - 100 words
Title: The Museum of Forgotten Dreams
Story Writing
6
Age
150 - 200 words
Title: The Tree That Talked
Starting line: “Hello,” said a deep, rustling voice. Charlie spun around—no one was there. “Down here,” the voice chuckled. “I’m the tree, of course!” …
Story Writing
8
Age
250 - 300 words
Title: The Map in the Mirror
Starting line: "Jake wiped the dust from the mirror in the attic. Instead of his reflection, a glowing map appeared. “That’s not normal,” he muttered—and touched it …"
Story Writing
11-12
Age
350 - 400 words
Title: The House Between Worlds
Starting line: "Jaya had walked past the crooked little house on her street a hundred times. But today, the door was open—and inside, nothing was quite real—or quite pretend …"
