To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the twinning of Aberdeen and Regensburg, Germany, a bilingual collection of new writing by writers from both cities is to be published in 2015.  Anyone aged 18 and over is invited to enter.  Find out more about the competition here

Find out more about this fantastic poetry competition for pupils aged between 11-17 years old here.

Aberdeen University is hosting a Teen Book Quiz on Thursday 6th March from 5-6.30pm.  Get a team together and register your team to take part.  To register email scc.learning@abdn.ac.uk or phone (01224) 273047 or 273048.  Follow them on twitter @scc_aberdeen #BigBookTheory and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SpecialCollectionsCentreUniversityofAberdeen

Henrietta Branford Writing Competition

Yes another writing competition for you!  The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition, which aims to find new writers of the future, is now open and anyone under the age of 19 can enter. The winners will have the opportunity to meet bestselling author Jacqueline Wilson!

Entrants are invited to complete a spooky story begun by the winner of last year’s Branford Boase Award for debut writers, Dave Shelton, who won for his book, A Boy and a Bear in a Boat.

The story should be no longer than 1500 words, must follow on from the starter paragraph, and have a title.

All entrants must live in the UK and be under 19 years of age. The closing date for the competition is Friday 18 April 2014. Click here for more information.

Aged 13 or under? Why not enter the BBC’s 500 words short story competition.  Deadline Wednesday 26th of February http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00rfvk1

Are you a big Jacqueline Wilson fan? Draw or paint a pet portrait and you could win a copy of her new book Paws and Whiskers and lots of other goodies.  Deadline Friday 28th of February http://www.worldbookday.com/competitions/five-sets-of-paws-and-whiskers-goodies-to-be-won/

Pupils in 5th or 6th year can still enter Aberdeenshire’s crime and mystery festival crime writing competition as the deadline has been extended until 28 February 2014.  Download the introduction here  http://www.nts.org.uk/Unsolved/Competition/

Pupils of all ages! It’s not too late to enter the WICKED YOUNG WRITERS AWARD.  You are free to write about what you want – either in prose or poems and can write as many entries as you like.  Deadline 31 March 2014.  For more details visit the competition website http://wickedyoungwriters.com/

This year for the Holocaust Memorial Day 2014 Art Competition you are being asked to create a painting, drawing or piece of digital art on the theme of Forced Journeys / Journeys of Escape.   Click here for more information.

Yet another creative writing competition for you!  Pupils of all ages are asked to enter stories or poems on any subject they’d like – and as many entries as they’d like!  The final date for entries is 31 March 2014 and the maximum word count is 700 words.  For details and ideas to help you from top writer Michael Morpurgo visit http://wickedyoungwriters.com/

Get inspired by four images from the Aberdeen University’s collection of rare books and send them your 500 word short story.  The deadline for submissions is 12 midnight on 27th of October 2013.  For more information visit www.abdn.ac.uk/library/about/special