Wicked Writers winners 2025
The winners and runners-up of the 2025 Wicked Writers: Be The Change writing competition have been announced.
This year's competition theme was local change and over 2,400 pupils across the UK entered with passionate stories, essays and poems about the issues they'd like to tackle in their communities.
On our judging panel included Cressida Cowell, bestselling author of How to Train Your Dragon and former Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate; Manjeet Mann, award-winning author of The Crossing and Run, Rebel; and Jonathan Douglas, Chief Executive of the National Literacy Trust.
Congratulations to our winners and thank you to all the amazing pupils up and down the country for taking part and impressing us with your passion and your writing skills.
Winners and runners-up
There was a lot of competition this year with over 2,400 impressive and diverse entries advocating for local change. But four pupils managed to stand out and blow the judges away with their unique interpretations of the theme and persuasive writing.
The two winners have won class trips to see Wicked the musical on stage in London, and a writing workshop with author and judge Manjeet Mann. The runners-up have also won tickets to see Wicked with a family member.
9 to 11 winner: Lucia Pazos
The winner in the 9 to 11 age group is Lucia Pazos, aged 9, from London who wowed the judges with a story told from the perspective of a sentient oxygen particle living in the River Thames.
Describing Lucia’s winning entry, the judges said: “This is a wonderfully original, playful and highly visual piece. By inhabiting the voice of an oxygen particle in the River Thames, this piece sends a powerful yet subtle message about the problems of plastic pollution. We felt this could be an animation, or even on the stage: a theatrical, memorable story.”
After hearing about her win, Lucia said: “I loved taking part in the competition and creating a story all about looking after the planet. It was so exciting that I would love to turn my character into a comic book hero.”
If you drop plastic, land or sea, it stays there for eternity. So think before you toss away, or we'll all pay the price someday!
9 to 11 runner-up: Joey Chau
Joey Chau, aged 11 and from Glasgow is this year's runner-up in the 9 to 11 category. With an impassioned letter addressed to a local councillor, Joey impressed the judges with his love for his school’s football pitch, which he says has fallen into hazardous neglect and needs investment.
Joey was thrilled to learn about coming runner-up, saying: “I was buzzing with excitement when I heard I was a runner up! I would have never thought it would have been me but the best reward of all is knowing that I made a change!”
11 to 14 winner: Megan Rae
Megan Rae, aged 13 from Leeds, came in first place with her unique blend of first-person storytelling and persuasive essay to make a case for better public transport in her community to ensure women and children feel safer at night and can still engage with local activities.
Explaining why Megan was chosen as the winner of the 11-14, the judges said: “The opening of this piece is incredibly striking: creativity becomes a persuasive instrument as we’re held in the ‘panic-stricken grasp’ of walking down a dim street at night. What follows is a thoughtful argument about the importance of increasing public transport, and a powerful call to prioritise community safety.”
Megan was excited to learn that she had won, saying: “I am delighted to have won and hope to inspire others to stand up for those who are vulnerable within their community. I am passionate about the safety of women and used this opportunity to express my concern for young people's safety. I would recommend that anyone take part in the competition to convey their own thoughts about a topic that is special to them."
Although no threat was apparent, my heart, held in an inescapable, panic-stricken grasp, hammered under my coat.
11 to 14 runner-up: Violet Anderson
Violet Anderson, aged 13 from Lancashire, landed the runner-up spot after she blew away the judges by conducting her own original survey in the local area into how safe women in the community feel. Violet used her findings from over 200 women to make the argument for better lighting, women-only transport and safer spaces for women and girls in Lancashire.
Violet was thrilled to learn about coming runner-up, saying: “I am delighted to have been chosen as the runner-up in this competition. I am proud that my piece will be published. I hope my work will raise awareness about women's safety, as I feel it is an important topic to talk about. I enjoyed creating my entry, and I hope to encourage others to take part in the next competition.”
Read the shortlisted entries
Thank you to all the young writers across the UK for taking part and a huge congratulations to our incredible shortlist.
All shortlisted pupils, including the winners and runners-up have been published in Wicked Writers: Be the Change: Anthology 2025, which is available on Amazon with a foreword from children's author Michael Morpurgo.
About Wicked Writers: Be the Change
Wicked Writers is a persuasive writing competition inspired by the themes of Wicked the musical, which gives pupils a chance to have their voice heard and to win some exciting prizes in the process.
Our research has found that twice as many children and young people who take part in writing competitions report that they enjoy writing, which has great associated benefits from improved writing skills to their confidence, creativity and wellbeing.
The free, supporting classroom resources that go alongside the competition include curriculum-linked activities and aim to support and develop young people's persuasive writing skills.
The competition is run in partnership with Wicked Active Learning, the London stage musical’s cultural and social education programme.