Are you between 11 and 16 years old? Do you like to write stories? Would you like to try to become a published author?

The Sherlock Holmes Society of London is celebrating its 75^th anniversary this year, and we are running a Sherlock Holmes-related short story contest for 11 to 16-year olds. First prize is £250, second prize is £100 and third prize is £50. The top ten shortlisted stories will be published into a book, and the first prize story will be illustrated.

The stories should be between 1500 – 2000 words long and absolutely no AI is allowed to be used in the process. Stories should be sent as word attachments and include your name, date of birth, city and word count to shortstorysubmissions@sherlock-holmes.org.uk

The deadline for submissions is 15 April 2026. The winners will be notified by July 2026.  The judging will be done on the following criteria:

• Holmes scholarship
• Concept originality
• How engaging is the writing

The submissions do not have to be “purist.” If you want to keep Holmes and Watson as Doyle described, and set the story in London in 1895, we would love to read it. If you want them to be from outer space, or children, or insects, we would love to read it.

One submission per individual please, but we would welcome multiple submissions from schools or teachers.  Any questions please send them to shortstorysubmissions@sherlock-holmes.org.uk

Funding for this competition was made possible by a legacy from Kelvin I. Jones. You can read more about Kelvin here: Kelvin Jones obituary | Books | The Guardian)