Write on Art is a national writing programme for young people from 13 to 19 years of age, devised by Art UK and the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art (PMC).
Young writers are invited to write 400–600 words about an artwork of their choice on Art UK’s website for one of three categories:
- Creative writing – an imaginative and expressive response to an artwork
- Review – a critical commentary about an artwork or installation
- Essay – a critical analysis of an artwork supported by evidence
The 2026 cycle of Write on Art is now open for applications.
Twelve successful applicants will be invited to attend a day-long Young Art Writers Workshop at the Royal College of Arts in October 2026. The workshop will include writing sessions, a risograph printing workshop and opportunities to connect with other young writers. Throughout the day the group will co-design and produce a zine featuring the twelve shortlisted essays. This zine will be printed for sharing with friends and family and featured on the PMC and Art UK’s websites.
Applicants will be notified of whether they have been selected for the Young Art Writers Workshop in early September 2026.
Please click the “How to Apply” tab for further information about how to submit your entry. If you have any queries please contact learning@paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk.
The Challenge
Choose one artwork from Art UK’s website and submit a piece of writing about it in one of our three categories. Please choose a category based on the style of writing you would like to explore.
Click the tabs above for more information about each category and their assessment criteria.
Each category has two subcategories, one for younger writers and one for older writers. Submit your writing to the subcategory that matches the age you are at the time of submission.
- Younger Writers: 13–16 years old. Write 400 words maximum
- Older Writers: 17–19 years old. Write 600 words maximum
Write on Art is intended for writers of 13–19 years of age; however, university undergraduates are not eligible to submit writing to this competition. We are nevertheless keen to be inclusive and if you feel submitting a piece to Write on Art would be beneficial for you, please reach out to our Learning Manager, Claire Kirk, at learning@paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk. Requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
There are over 300,000 artworks from the UK’s national collection to discover on Art UK. Your writing could be a poem, shining a light on an underrepresented artist; a review of your favourite artwork in your local gallery; or an essay which reinterprets a famous historical painting.
Write on Art Access Fund
We are committed to ensuring this opportunity is open and accessible to all, and there is a budget in place for helping the shortlisted writers to attend the Young Art Writers Workshop. This might include financial support for travel and accommodation, a professional assistant or whatever support is needed to ensure you can take part in the Workshop fully and comfortably. If you are unsure whether our provision will cover your needs, we would be very happy to speak to you about it. The twelve shortlisted young writers will be consulted about any support they require upon being informed of their success. In the meantime, please contact our Learning Manager, Claire Kirk, at learning@paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk if you would like to discuss this further.
The Prize
This year’s shortlisting committee and judges will choose twelve winning writers (four from each category). The twelve winning writers will receive a goody bag worth £100 and be invited to a Young Art Writers Workshop at the Royal College of Art, London, in October 2026.
At this workshop these successful writers will have the opportunity to work with a Royal College of Art tutor to develop their writing and co-create a zine featuring everyone’s work. The zine will be printed and published on the Art UK and PMC websites. This workshop will be an exciting opportunity to meet fellow young writers, develop your writing skills and gain an insight into sharing your writing through self-publishing.
In addition, two overall winners (one from each age range) will receive £500 for their educational establishment to spend on art-related support for their students (or £100 if the writers are homeschooled or enter as individuals).