We invite your students to enter the 14th competition of the Hong Kong Young Writers Award!
We are also delighted to announce that the award scheme has gained such popularity, that it now boasts the support of a non-profit organisation, THE YOUTH LITERATURE FOUNDATION. For more information on the foundation please go to https://www.hkywa.com/home3/ylf-new-non-profit/
Year-upon-year, we are continually amazed by the research and thought that goes into each child’s work and I’m positive this year we will continue to see some truly amazing entries.
Once again, the awards are being organised by Playtimes, one of Asia’s leading parenting and lifestyle magazines.
The Hong Kong Young Writers Awards (HKYWA) is an annual competition and fantastic opportunity for aspiring writers to showcase their talents and creativity. Our entry categories are in fiction, non-fiction, poetry and cover art.
Over the years, the awards have been sponsored by Search Group, SCAD, Cyberport, Max and Mei, Nury Vittachi, Faber-Castell, Bookazine, International New York Times, Techni Photo, Print Plus, Shamrock Catering and Asia Exhibits House
The competition’s main aim is to foster excellence in creativity by providing students with the opportunity to develop their expressive talents and expand their horizons. The awards encourage and recognise excellence in English writing and artwork among students, aged from 6-18, of various age groups, diverse backgrounds and different learning abilities. Since its inception in 2010, the competition has been a resounding success, with over 1,200+ entries coming in from approximately 200 participating schools across Hong Kong, Macau and China in 2021.
All entries should be based on the theme for 2023, New Tales of Judge Pao. One winner will be chosen in each of the groups, and one lucky student will be named The Hong Kong Young Writer of 2023.
New Tales of Judge Pao
Judge Pao, China’s Sherlock Holmes, really existed
BEFORE THERE WAS Detective Pikachu, before there was Batman, before there was Sherlock Holmes. . . there was Judge Pao. A crusading figure with a passion to fight crime and clean up the land, Judge Pao lived more than 1,000 years before any of the other justice fighters mentioned above were dreamed up by authors. His name may ring bells worldwide, as there have been many books and movies inspired by his life, including books written in Chinese, English and French.
This hero really existed. Not only that, but his fame spread while he was alive, with people saying that he dispensed justice as a human during the day, but at night, he became the immortal Yama of a Department of Hell known as “the Infernal Bureaucracy” and worked as a supernatural judge sorting out the affairs of the Afterlife.
He also has a really interesting Hong Kong connection. His line of descent has been carefully recorded, and a famous family in the city, known for the patriarch Sir Y.K. Pao (short for Pao Yue-Kong).
And Hong Kong, home of his grandchildren, regularly wins awards in global indexes for having a world-class legal system and one of the planet’s best corruption-fighting operations.
China’s famous supernatural judge would have been proud.