The Laurie Herring Prize for Critical Response

The Laurie Herring Prize 2025 has now closed for judging

“The Laurie Herring Prize is a great opportunity for the students of today to turn into the critics of tomorrow, and a great chance for the rest of us to encourage them. I look forward to the next generation coming through – as long, of course, as they’re not *too* good. (I’d like to keep my job if possible.)”

 James Walton, TV critic for The Spectator, and fiction reviewer for The Times and The New York Review of Books.

We are judging the competition in three categories: Years 7-8, Years 9-10 and Years 11-13 and are looking for powerful, persuasive voices, with original opinions and a flair for expressing them.

In each age category, the prizes are:

First: £100

Second: £50

Third: £25

The awards will be presented by the British novelist, fashion writer and biographer, Justine Picardie, at the National Centre for Writing, Norwich, on the Friday 28th March 2025, 6pm-7pm.