BUDDING teenage authors and poets are being urged to put pen to paper and enter the Malvern Young Writer of the Year Competition.

The competition is open to writers aged between 13 and 19 and is being organised by Malvern Writers' Circle.

Poetry, short stories and prose are welcome and the circle aim to provide feedback to the writers of every piece submitted. Prizes will be awarded to winning entries in the spring and the overall winner will be given the title Malvern Young Writer of the Year.

The judges include Graham Gardner, author of prize-winning book Inventing Elliot, and winner of a similar young writers' competition held in Malvern ten years ago.

Stories or prose can be up to 2,000 words and poetry up to 40 lines. Entries should be sent to Malvern Writers' Circle, Young Writers' Competition, 15 Queens Drive, Great Mal-vern, WR14 4RE by December 31. Entrants should include name, school/college, age on December 31, phone number, address, category, word count and title of entry.