In 2026, the National Literacy Trust are inviting the nation to Go All In and discover how reading print and digital novels, non-fiction and poetry, exploring comics, magazines and graphic novels, or listening to audiobooks can unlock more of what we love. Together, we’ll re-engage one of the most powerful tools for equity and opportunity: a lifelong love of reading.
A big event in the literacy calendar is World Book Day which will be on Thursday, 5th March. This year we will be celebrating by dressing up as our favourite characters from a range of literature. Please invite your child to get involved with this, win some fantastic prizes and join in with a range of activities that will be occurring throughout the day.
Next week National Storytelling Week will be happening all across the country. This year’s theme for NSW is: Soundtrack your story.
Students and staff have been invited to share their stories and consider how they might soundtrack their story this week. What songs would be on the playlist of your life?
Here is also information about a writing competition if any students would like to enter. You have to create an account which you can do here: Log in and you can access further information using this link: National Storytelling Week 2026 Activities, Events And Resources | National Literacy Trust
Writing competition
As part of this storytelling project, supported by Amazon, pupils can share their work with us and Amazon employees, for the chance to have it published in a specially curated anthology. The anthology will feature writing inspired by the theme Soundtrack your story, in celebration of National Storytelling Week 2026. To submit your students’ work, please read the guidelines and follow the link to Submittable which will be available on this webpage shortly.
Guidelines
- Submissions will be open until 27th February.
- Submissions can be a maximum of 500 words. The submissions can be in any format eg. lyrics, fictional stories, non-fiction writing, personal narratives.
- We will not judge submissions on spelling or grammar mistakes, but the writing should be coherent and clear.
- Please upload your submissions as a Word document. Please name the document the initials of the pupil. Eg. Submission1_JD
- Please ensure no pupil names are on or inside the document, just their initials. We cannot accept any submissions including names.
- There is no cap on the number of submissions per class or school. However, please note that you will need to upload a separate submission per pupil. We only accept one entry per pupil.
- Please only submit writing created by KS3/S1-S3 pupils.
Please remember that we are a small team processing a large volume of submissions. We appreciate your patience.
Submittable
- You will need to create an account with your email address and name. You will need to verify your account. The link for you to do so will be available on this webpage shortly.
Prizes
- Winning pupils will be published in a National Storytelling Week anthology. They will receive a printed copy of the anthology as well as a copy for their school.
- These pupils and their schools will also be in with the chance of winning book bundles.
If you have any questions about National Storytelling Week 2026, please email Young Writers: [email protected]
