{"id":880175,"date":"2026-04-08T12:58:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/880175\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T12:58:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:58:21","slug":"royal-highland-show-launches-short-story-competition-as-part-of-scotlands-national-year-of-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/880175\/","title":{"rendered":"Royal Highland Show launches short story competition as part of Scotland\u2019s National Year of Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open to primary pupils from P5-P7 and secondary pupils from S1 to S3, the contest aims to connect classrooms with Scotland\u2019s land, food systems and rural communities.<\/p>\n

Head of the Royal Highland Show, David Tennant, is on the judging panel(Image: Ian Georgeson)<\/p>\n

Young writers across Lanarkshire<\/a> are being challenged to put pen to paper and bring the future of farming to life, as the Royal Highland Show launches a nationwide short story competition as part of Scotland\u2019s National Year of Reading.<\/p>\n

Open to primary pupils from P5-P7 and secondary pupils from S1 to S3, the contest aims to connect classrooms with Scotland\u2019s land, food systems and rural communities by encouraging pupils to explore one of four themes through their creative writing submissions: the future of farming, sustainable food production, innovation in agriculture or caring for animals, crops or the environment.<\/p>\n

The Royal Highland Show – Scotland\u2019s largest fundraising event run by leading agricultural charity RHASS (Royal Highland Agricultural Society of Scotland) – has long championed education, innovation and the future of farming.<\/p>\n

\"\"Download the Lanarkshire Live app today<\/p>\n

The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now.<\/p>\n

Get all the news from your area \u2013 as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire\u2019s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic \u2013 straight to your fingertips, 24\/7.<\/p>\n

The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you.<\/p>\n

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The competition aims to build on this legacy by inviting a new generation to imagine the future of agriculture, from futuristic farming methods and rural adventure stories, to exploring the connection between people, animals and the environment.<\/p>\n

The judging panel for the competition brings together expertise from across the agriculture and the literary worlds and is formed of children’s author Catherine Stables, head of the Royal Highland Show, David Tennant, and author, bookseller and publisher at Foggie Toddle Books, Jayne Baldwin.<\/p>\n

David Tennant said: “The Royal Highland Show is all about celebrating and sustaining the future of Scottish agriculture.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Review of Airdrie & Coatbridge Amateur Operatic Society’s ‘We Will Rock You’ production<\/a><\/p>\n

“This competition offers a unique way to help connect young people with rural Scotland, encouraging them to think creatively about how we might grow and source our food, or how innovation might support farmers in the decades ahead.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re excited to see how pupils across Scotland interpret these themes and bring them to life through their storytelling.”<\/p>\n

Open to pupils across the country, entries must be original work, with one submission per pupil, and an accompanying illustration is welcomed but optional.<\/p>\n

Primary (P5-P7) pupils are asked that their stories have a maximum of 250 words, and secondary (S1-S3) pupils have a maximum of 500 words. Entries can be hand written or typed.<\/p>\n

All entries must relate to at least one of the following themes: The future of farming, Sustainable food production, Innovation in agriculture or Caring for animals, crops or the environment.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Schools can join St Andrew\u2019s Hospice\u2019s Teddy Bear’s Adventure fundraiser<\/a><\/p>\n

Winners will be announced ahead of the show, taking place in June, with two winners and two runners-up recognised across the primary and secondary categories.<\/p>\n

Prize packages will include family tickets to attend the Sunday of the Royal Highland Show, book vouchers (\u00a3100 for winners and \u00a350 for runners-up) and the winning stories being published in national farming title, The Scottish Farmer.<\/p>\n

The winners will also receive family passes to the Wigtown Book Festival which takes place in Dumfries & Galloway in the autumn.<\/p>\n

The competition closes on Friday, May 15; all entries should be emailed by teachers to rhsshortstorycomp@mucklemediagroup.co.uk and include the name of the pupil and their year group.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Aldi encourages shoppers to donate pet food this April to mark National Pet Month<\/a><\/p>\n

*Don’t miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

And did you know Lanarkshire Live<\/a> had its own app? Download yours for free here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open to primary pupils from P5-P7 and secondary pupils from S1 to S3, the contest aims to connect…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":880176,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5009],"tags":[8918,31311,748,12450,8917,151760,2266,4884,14683,31313,95482,26703,31312,857,712,16,15],"class_list":["post-880175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scotland","tag-airdrie","tag-airdrie-coatbridge","tag-britain","tag-charity","tag-coatbridge","tag-coatbridge-news","tag-education","tag-great-britain","tag-lanarkshire","tag-lanarkshire-charity","tag-lanarkshire-education","tag-lanarkshire-news","tag-monklands","tag-schools","tag-scotland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116369209223258714","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}