Please carefully read the guidelines below to ensure that your writing is correctly entered into the MyRainbowBooks 2022/2023 National Creative Writing Competition for Children as all incorrect entries will be disqualified. 

• The competition opens for entries on December 15, 2022. The deadline for submission is the midnight of February 15, 2023. 
• Every story or poem entered into the competition must be solely written by a child who is between 5-16 years old, and either resident in Nigeria, or of Nigerian nationality.
• The themes for this year’s competition are: A Fun Day at School, The Enchanted Iroko Tree, Aunty Nene's Shekere, The Palm Wine Tapper, The Day I Saw My Imaginary Friend, The Missing Broom and Mama's Cowrie Shells. Every poem and short story submitted must explore one or more of the above themes. The stories should be set in Nigeria, and as much as possible, should showcase the Nigerian culture.
• There are three age categories for the competition as follows: Category A (5-8 years old), Category B (9-12 years old), and Category C (13-16 years old). 
• In each category, primary and secondary schools can each make a group entry of no more than 10 different writings comprising either poems or short stories, or a combination of both.
• Entries are free and limited to ONE per person and ONE group entry per category for each school.
• A story or poem that is included in a group entry may not be used for an individual entry.
• Individual entries may be in the form of poetry or short story, but not both.
• The poem or story must be written solely by the child who is making the entry. For group submissions, the entries must be written by current students of the school.
• All entries must be previously unpublished, and not seen on any website.
• Each story must be no more than 1000 words.
• Each poem must be no more than 250 words.
• Entries should be in English, but vernacular is allowed where appropriate.
• Entries may be done by downloading and completing the entry form for either individual or school, and thereafter emailing the completed form and the writing to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please note that every entry should have two separate submissions: (i) the completed form, and (ii) the story/poem.
• At the top of the poem or short story, please write your name, the title of your story/poem, form of writing (i.e. poem or short story) and category of the entry. If surname is written before the first name, use a comma after the surname. Names of the student and/or school should not be used within the story or poem.
• Entries should be typed and submitted in word document format; please note that no other format will be accepted. The texts should not be centre aligned but left aligned.
• Drawings and illustrations should NOT be included in the writings.
• Any story or poem submitted here may not be submitted for any other competition until after the results of this competition are announced.
• Winners and finalists will be notified through emails or phone calls by May 30, 2023.
• The results of the Competition will be published on our website on or before June 7, 2023.
• Prizes will be awarded to the best writings in each category and the overall best three group entries.
• The best poems and short stories will be published in the MyRainbowBooks Children’s Collection (Vol. 8); everyone whose writing is published will receive an electronic copy of the book. These stories and poems thereafter become the property of MyRainbowBooks Limited, and may not be published or used without the permission of MyRainbowBooks Limited. Please note that NOT all the poems/stories in the best group submissions will be published. Likewise, stories and poems from a non-winning group entry may be published. We reserve the right to edit the writings as we see fit before publication.
• Where it is discovered that false information was given in the entry form, the person(s) or school(s) involved will be disqualified and possibly banned from participating in future competitions organized by MyRainbowBooks Limited. In cases where prizes have already been awarded at the time of such discovery, the prizes will be recalled. We reserve the right to publish such discoveries on our website and elsewhere as we see fit.

If you have any questions, please call us on +234-8052087995 or e-mail us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your query.