The 2020 Times/Chicken House long list is here!
2020 has been… pretty weird so far. But thank goodness, there are still some things you can rely on: writers will write, readers will read, and the wheels of the annual Times/Chicken House Competition will keep on turning.
Sure, we’re running a little late (thank you, public health crisis) but better late than never – and we are very proud to announce this year’s absolutely stonking long list!
Our 18 longlisted manuscripts are an even split between middle-grade and teen/YA. We’re incredibly proud of this diverse bunch of novels whose settings include India past and present, Egypt, London, 1990s Russia, a dystopic near-future, a clockwork shop, a magical island, a time loop, and a haunted house.
These stories are peopled with characters as marvellous as they are relatable – a lion highwayman, a pirate captain, a carer robot, a would-be alchemist, a maid-turned-master-criminal, an amateur sleuth, a reluctant agony aunt, a YouTube star, and a spider sidekick. And that’s to name but a few! So, without further ado, here is the 2020 longlist:
Adjay and the Mumbai Rail Times by Varsha Shah
Clockwork Magpies by Emma Whitehall
Dandy Paws the Highway Lion by Stephanie Sorrell
Don’t Ask Me by Catherine Mallette
Eye Spye by Sophie Stewart
Kali’s Kismet by Dev Kothari
The Boy and the Wolf by Tom Mann
The Elephant Heist by Rucha Dixit
The Eternal Return of Clara Hart by Louise Cook
The Girl Who Cared by Caitlin Sanderson
The Hangman’s Daughter by Kathryn Nelson
The Networked Wonderland of Us by Sarah Gibson Yates
The Other Ones by Fran Hart
The Precarious Potions of Kitta Quint by Mandy Rabin
The Rise and Fall of Priya and Paul by Beatrice Anobah
The Way to Zaubery by Katie Allen
Things I Learned While I Was Dead by Kathryn Clark
Waiting in the Wings by Harriet Parsons
Huge congratulations to our talented longlisted authors. We hope to announce the shortlist by the end of the month, so watch this space – and keep an eye on our social media accounts – for more news.
The Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition
The UK's biggest writing contest for children's books
Calling all aspiring authors of children’s and young adult fiction! Have you written a story you think young readers will love?
The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition is the largest writing competition for children’s books in the UK, offering unpublished and unagented writers the chance to get their work discovered.
This annual contest is open to writers over 18 from anywhere in the world. If you have a completed full-length novel for readers aged 7-18, this is your opportunity to break into publishing.
Why Enter?
We're offering two incredible prizes:
- The Times/Chicken House Prize: A worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House and a £10,000 royalty advance, plus a discussion about representation with agent judge Callen Martin.
- The Broken Binding Prize: For YA sci-fi, fantasy, and speculative fiction. Includes a publishing contract with a £10,000 advance and a representation discussion with agent judge Stevie Finegan of the Zeno Agency.
What We’re Looking For
We want original ideas, a fresh voice, and stories that children and teens will love. We welcome entries from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds.
Entry Requirements
- A completed full-length novel (approx. 30,000- 80,000 words) for children or young adults.
- A cover letter, synopsis, and manuscript in one document.
- You must be 18 or older, unpublished and without a literary agent.
Ready to enter the UK’s biggest children’s writing competition?
The competition closes at 11:59am on 1st June 2026. Submit your manuscript today and take the first step toward becoming a published author!
Barry's tips...
Our chair of judges, Barry Cunningham, is best-known as the publisher who signed Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. Here are his top tips for aspiring writers!
Need advice?
Take a look at our Writers' Guide – packed with useful hints and tips, plus a list of invaluable resources & links to useful organisations, it’s a great place to start.
THE TIMES/CHICKEN HOUSE CHILDREN'S FICTION COMPETITION - SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED!
Drumroll please! Over the last few weeks, we've had the very difficult task of whittling our fantastic longlist of 18 down to a shortlist of just 5. With such a stellar longlist, this was no mean feat - all the longlisted submissions were absolutely brilliant stories, full of all the originality, excellent writing and riveting plots that we're on the lookout for from the hundreds of submissions we receive. Such was the quality of this year's longlist, that we couldn't decide on just 5 - so without further ado, here's the shortlist of 6!
Adam's Amazing Apothecary by Wai Lan Mo
Dogs of Legacy by M.P. Sturrock
Keeper of the Crown by Mary Hopewell
King of the Mountains by Steve Lee
The Gallows Dance by Anna Day
The Secret Cooking Club for Girls by Laurel Remington
We've got an absolutely fantastic mix of genres and age ranges on the shortlist - respectively, a magical, hilarious tale of a junior Dr. Dolittle and his journey to overcome fear; a heart-wrenching canine adventure with a unique narrative voice; a high-concept fantasy set in a world ruled by reincarnation; an electrifying cycling story packed with adrenaline; a gripping reimagining of society's obsession with perfection, based around genetic modification; and a delicious cake-fuelled drama bursting with flavour.
Congratulations to all of our shortlisted authors!
WE HAVE A LONGLIST!
We're very excited to announce our longlist for the 2015 Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition! We had a huge amount of entries which were all read by our team of experienced readers, who with Barry Cunningham and the Chicken House team chose the very best submissions for our longlist.
So, without further ado - here they are!
ADAM'S AMAZING APOTHECARY by Wai Lan Mo
ALL MY SINS REMEMBERED by Anna Fransizka
DOGS OF LEGACY by M.P. Sturrock
DUNCAN VS. THE GOOGLEYS by Kate Milner
HIDDEN IN THE TRUNK OF STARS by Susie Dinneen
HOLLOW BONES by Anneka Freeman
KEEPER OF THE CROWN by Mary Hopewell
KING OF THE MOUNTAINS by Steve Lee
MOMO AND THE STAR PLAYER by Rebecca Purton
ONE MORE WAVE by L.L. Stewart
REIVERS by Claire Watts
RISE & SHINE by Emma Lee-Potter
SANITATUM by Cassie Powney
SAVING SAXON by Martha Lane
THE DOLL'S HOUSE by Eve Lyte
THE GALLOWS DANCE by Anna Day
THE SECRET COOKING CLUB FOR GIRLS by Laurel Remington
THE START OF HOPE by Debbie Nuttall
Congratulations to all on the longlist, and thank you to all the fantastic authors who entered this year's competition. As always, the standard was incredibly high!
Keep an eye on our Twitter page for info on the shortlist, announcing early February.
