The Pushkin Prizes offer a unique opportunity for 10 pupils from schools throughout Scotland to attend a five-day creative writing course at the Arvon Foundation Writers' Centre near Inverness
Past tutors have included professional writers, Gerry Cambridge, Anna Crowe, Alan Durant, Diana Hendry and Catherine MacPhail.
The Pushkin Prizes also fund a place for a teacher to attend the course.
Pupils in S1 and S2 (or the equivalent) from any school in Scotland are invited to submit their creative writing folios in December every year. Each folio must contain three pieces of creative writing, each no longer than 1200 words long. Pupils can write about anything they wish, and they can write in any genre, or combination of genres.
Previous winners have included poetry, prose, reportage, debate, travel writing and autobiography. The judges are looking for imaginative, lively and original writing. Attention to detail is essential - accurate spelling and punctuation can make all the difference.
For more information and to send your work