Book Review Competition and Creative Writing Workshop for Bedford College Group

To celebrate the National Year of Reading 2026, the Centre for New Writing at the University of Leicester is holding a Book Review Competition and Creative Writing Workshop in conjunction with the Bedford College Group. The Book Review Competition is open to students at the Bedford College Group, and all entries will be considered for publication for publication on our popular book review blog Everybody's Reviewing. The workshop on "Non-Linear Narratives and Storytelling for Games" will run in Tresham College in Kettering on 16 October 2026, and is taught by Laura Besley and Jonathan Taylor. Details are below!

Book Review Competition 2026: The Results

 

Our review blog, Everybody's Reviewing, recently passed one and a half million readers. To celebrate this milestone, the Centre for New Writing in conjunction with Everybody's Reviewing ran a Book Review Competition. Current undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Leicester were invited to write short reviews of any book they've recently enjoyed. You can read more about the competition here.

The judging is now complete, and below you can see the results. The judges have awarded one first prize, which is a £50 voucher, one second prize, which is a £25 voucher, and no fewer than four "honorable mentions." All of these excellent reviews will be published on Everybody's Reviewing over the next couple of weeks. 

Congratulations to everyone who entered - it was a very strong field!

First Prize 

Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke, review of Wilder Girls, by Rory Power

Second Prize

Charlie Black, review of Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell

Honorable Mentions

Aamani Bommareddy, review of Vicky Angel, by Jacqueline Wilson

Rim Asma Khalifa, review of And the Mountains Echoed, by Khaled Hosseini

Olivia Peachey, review of A Short Stay in Hell, by Steven L. Peck

Anupriya Sisodia, review of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Book Review Competition 2026

Recently, our popular review blog, Everybody’s Reviewing, passed one and a half million readers. To celebrate this milestone, Everybody’s Reviewing and the Centre for New Writing are running a book review competition. 

The competition is open to all current undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Leicester. First prize is £50 in Amazon gift vouchers. Second prize is £25 in vouchers. All entries will be considered for publication on the website. 

All you have to do is write a short book review (200-400 words) of a book you’ve read recently and enjoyed. The review should be positive overall, so choose a book you've enjoyed! The book doesn’t have to be new: it can be any work of fiction, creative non-fiction or poetry from any time, by any author. Please include a short (2-line) biography of yourself at the end of the review. 

Please send your entries (no more than one per student) to this email address: everybodysreviewing@gmail.com. You can also use the same email address for any queries you have about the competition. There is no entry fee. 

The deadline for submissions is midday on Wednesday 10 June 2026.

Competition rules are as follows:

1. Reviews should be between 200 and 400 words. All work must be in English. 
2. All entries must be submitted via email to everybodysreviewing@gmail.com.
3. All entries will be considered for publication on the Everybody's Reviewing website. 
4. Entries should not have been previously published.
5. The competition is open to all current undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Leicester up till the competition's final submission date.
6. Copyright remains with the author. Entrants give permission to have their work placed on the Everybody’s Reviewing website for an indefinite period.
7. Entries that do not comply with the rules will be disqualified.
8. Decisions of the judge(s) are final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding those decisions.

Good luck! We'll look forward to reading your reviews. 

Book Review Competition 2025: The Results

Recently, our popular review blog, Everybody’s Reviewing, passed half a million readers. To celebrate this milestone, Everybody’s Reviewing and the Centre for New Writing ran a book review competition. The competition was open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students in the School of Arts, Media & Communication at the University of Leicester. You can read more about it here. 

The standard of entries was very high indeed - every entry we received was professional, well-written and eminently publishable. Results of the competition are below. First prize is £100 in gift vouchers. There are also two second prizes of £25 each in vouchers, plus three "Honourable Mentions." All winning entries will be published on Everybody's Reviewing over the next week or so. Congratulations to everyone involved!

Results

1st Prize: Lee Wright, for his review of On Agoraphobia, by Graham Caveney

Runner-Up: Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke, for her review of The Book of Guilt, by Catherine Chidgey

Runner-Up: Iain Minney, for his review of The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham

Honourable Mention: Wiktoria Borkowska, for her review of I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman

Honourable Mention: Kathy Hoyle, for her review of Cuddy, by Benjamin Myers

Honourable Mention: Kimaya Patil, for her review of Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros

Book Review Competition 2025: Call for Entries!

Recently, our popular review blog, Everybody’s Reviewing, passed half a million readers. To celebrate this milestone, Everybody’s Reviewing and the Centre for New Writing are running a book review competition. 

The competition is open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students in the School of Arts, Media & Communication at the University of Leicester. First prize is £100 in Amazon gift vouchers. There will also be two second prizes of £25 each in vouchers. All entries will be considered for publication on the website. 

All you have to do is write a short book review (200-400 words) of a book you’ve read recently and enjoyed. The review should be positive overall. The book you choose doesn’t have to be new: it can be any work of fiction, creative non-fiction or poetry from any time, by any author. Please include a short (2-line) biography of yourself at the end of the review. 

Please send your entries (no more than one per student) to this email address: everybodysreviewing@gmail.com. You can also use the same email address for any queries you have about the competition. 

The deadline for submissions is 9am on Monday 23 June 2025.