The Writing Prize is for original writing by young people aged 5 to 13.

Elsie Locke was the author of many books for children and also wrote more than thirty stories for the School Journal. The first, “The Secret Rescue”, was published in 1959 and the last, “A Present from Pudding”, came out in 2001, the year of her death.

Currently the Writing Prize is offered by the Elsie Locke Memorial Trust in conjunction with ToiToi magazine to commemorate Elsie’s life as a writer and as a worker for peace, the environment, women’s issues, and community. It is open to young people aged 5 to 13.  (Prior to 2021, the Writing Prize was offered in conjunction with the School Journal and was open to students in years 7 and 8.)

The prize provides a wonderful opportunity for young writers to develop an original piece of writing for publication. The winner receives $250 and a commemorative bookplate and certificate, and their story is published in ToiToi.

You can read about the winning entry for 2024 at This year’s competition.