WICKED Writers Be The Change 2024 Competition Launches; Bestselling Author M. G. Leonard Joins The Judging Panel

Monday 29th January 2024 will mark the launch of Wicked Writers: Be the Change, a writing competition devised by the National Literacy Trust and stage musical Wicked (as part of its acclaimed Wicked Active Learning cultural and social education programme), to inspire the UK's school children to get creative and use their voices to change the world for the better. Now in its second year, the competition is based on the themes of one of the most well-known songs from the musical, ‘For Good', and this year challenges pupils aged 9 – 14 to write persuasively about a positive environmental change they want to see.

Joining this year's judging panel is best-selling author M. G. Leonard, best known for ‘Beetle Boy', the ‘Adventures on Trains' mystery series, and ‘The Twitchers' wildlife detectives. She is one of the founding authors of Authors4Oceans, with Lauren St John, campaigning to reduce single-use plastics. Her latest book, ‘The Ice Children' was published in November 2023.

In 2023, almost half of the children who took part in the first Be the Change writing competition chose, of their own accord, to use their entry to advocate for the environment and their planet. “We have been hugely inspired by last year's young activists,” comments Tim Judge, Head of Schools Programmes at the National Literacy Trust, “And have chosen to dedicate this year's competition entirely to the environment, which is clearly a matter of huge importance to children and young people today. Be the Change is all about listening to children's voices and showing them that writing can be an empowering experience that makes a difference in their world.”

In 2023, research from the National Literacy Trust found more children and young people who had taken part in writing competitions reported that they enjoyed writing and wrote daily in their free time compared with those who didn't enter a competition. With almost a third of 11-year-olds leaving primary school unable to write at the expected level, inspiring children to engage with and enjoy writing is more important than ever.

Entries will be judged by a fantastic judging panel, including children's author M. G. Leonard, teacher-influencer Holly King-Mand, Wicked Executive Producer Michael McCabe and National Literacy Trust CEO Jonathan Douglas CBE. One winner and one runner-up will be selected in each category (Years 5-6 and Years 7-9). All 16 shortlisted pupils will see their work published in an anthology and receive a bundle of brand-new books for their school. Winners and runners-up will receive class tickets to see the acclaimed musical Wicked at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre, with the two winning pupils also receiving writing workshops in their schools with judge M. G. Leonard.

M. G. Leonard says: “Stories are powerful. They are capable of changing minds, changing hearts and changing people. When I was a girl, ‘The Secret Garden' opened a door in my imagination and on the other side was wildlife of all kinds. Writing ‘Beetle Boy' cured my lifelong phobia of insects and turned me into a bug conservationist. Reading and writing really can shape a person of any age. Every child should know the transformative pleasure of creating their own stories. It's a way of expressing and exorcising worries and hopes for the future. This is why I'm delighted to be one of the judges for the ‘Wicked Writers: Be the Change' schools' competition.”

Michael McCabe, Executive Producer of Wicked in the UK, commented: “In launching the second year of our ‘Wicked Writers: Be the Change' schools' competition, we're proud to continue our partnership with the National Literacy Trust and assist in promoting literacy in the UK. We're especially pleased that this year's competition is focusing on the environment, providing a vital platform for young people to express their concerns and ideas for the future.”

About the National Literacy Trust

Literacy changes everything. It opens the door to the life you want. It's the key to knowledge, confidence and inspiration. It's better results at school, and better jobs. If you grow up without the tools to communicate, without books to read or opportunities to write, it's harder to get where you want to go.

We're a charity helping people overcome these challenges and change their life chances through the power of words – reading, writing, speaking and listening. From first words, through school days to training, jobs and beyond. Together, we're helping people change their stories. www.literacytrust.org.uk

About Wicked

“One of the most successful musicals of all time” (BBC News), Wicked is already the 11th longest-running production in West End history. Inspired by “one of the most influential children's stories of all time” (The Times), L. Frank Baum's ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' (1900), and based on the acclaimed multimillion-copy best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked imagines a beguiling backstory and future possibilities to the lives of the Witches of Oz, revealing the decisions and events that shape the destinies of two unlikely university friends on their journey to becoming ‘Glinda The Good' and the ‘Wicked Witch of the West'.

The London production continues an open-ended run at the Apollo Victoria Theatre whilst a touring production continues until January 2025. Currently at the Bristol Hippodrome until 25 February 2024, the tour then continues to Birmingham Hippodrome, Bradford Alhambra Theatre, Southampton Mayflower Theatre, Liverpool Empire, Dublin Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Sunderland Empire, Cardiff Wales Millennium Centre, and Manchester Palace Theatre. www.WickedTheMusical.co.uk       

About Wicked Active Learning

The production's acclaimed cultural and social education programme, Wicked Active Learning, supports curriculum enrichment, personal development, and learning outside the classroom. Assets and benefits include free Primary and Secondary lesson plans and classroom resources, ticket discounts, free teacher ratios, official workshops (Anti-Bullying, Wellbeing, and Musical Theatre), post-show Q&As, and free resources to assist in the organisation of school trips and the completion of risk assessments, including a venue preview video and School Trip Guide. www.WickedActiveLearning.co.uk

About M. G. Leonard

M. G. Leonard has made up stories ever since she was little. Back then, adults called them lies or tall tales, so she didn't write them down. Now, she makes up stories about wonderous beetles, beautiful birds, adventures on trains or anything that sparks her imagination. She is the bestselling writer of children's books such as Beetle Boy, the Adventures on Trains series and The Twitchers books. Her work had been translated into over forty languages. Her books have won many awards, including the Best Crime Fiction Novel for Children 2022 CrimeFest award, Sainsbury's Children's Book of the Year 2021, British Book Awards Book of the year 2021 - Children's fiction, China's Children's Choice Book: Gold Medal 2018, the Branford Boase Award 2017, as well as being nominated three times for the Carnegie Medal, twice shortlisted for an Edgar by the Mystery Writers of America and twice longlisted for the Wainwright Prize. She burst into bookshops with her quirky debut Beetle Boy in 2016, and the success of her beetle books have led to her becoming a vice president of the insect charity Buglife. She and her beetles have appeared on Blue Peter, Springwatch Unsprung, Countryfile, Meet the Author with James Naughtie, Sky News, and featured in the BBC documentary, The Bug Couple. www.mgleonard.com