Budding literary stars from across Southeast Asia showcased through inaugural UEA Young Writer Award
By: Communications
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is widely said to be the home of creative writing in the UK, from delivering the country's first MA in Creative Writing in 1970 to producing an enviable record of nurturing talented writers – including Nobel Prize winner Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, Booker Prize winners Ian McEwan and Anne Enright, and bestselling novelists Naomi Alderman and Tracy Chevalier.
Building on that excellence, the University launched the UEA Young Writer Award this year to encourage secondary-school students to develop their passion for writing, with pupils from across Southeast Asia encouraged to think and write about something that is increasingly hard to come by in our fast-paced world – attention.
Entries included short stories, essays, poetry and scriptwriting.
The judges, including Dr Clare Connors (Associate Professor & Head of Literature in the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing at UEA) were bowled over by the quality of the submissions, saying:
'It was a really tough job choosing amongst some outstanding submissions – but the quality of the writing made it a real pleasure too. Our three winners are definitely names to look out for in the future.'
First Prize went to Thomas Lee from Garden International School (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) for Who Watches the Orang Besar? Written in essay form and inspired by Yee I-Lann’s Orang Besar series, judges noted how it 'combines careful research and authoritative writing with a candid and engaging personal voice'.
Second Prize went to Charlotte Lee from Concordia International School (Hanoi, Vietnam) for her poem Swipe, which invites its reader to ‘swipe’ between a found poem of clamorous contemporary urban life and a curiously moving lyric portrait of a family card game.
Third Prize went to Jung Choi from Sekolah Pelita Harapan (Lippo Village, Indonesia) for her short story Bertha, with judges enjoying the tough, individual and darkly-humorous voice describing the narrator’s fixation with... a fridge called Bertha!
There were also nine highly commended entrants from across Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Brunei.
Dr Tom Roebuck (Associate Professor in the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing at UEA) spoke about the importance of this kind of opportunity, saying:
'UEA is today recognised globally as the home of Creative Writing, and we are unrelenting in our support of exceptional young writers of the next generation across the world.
'We are delighted that the inaugural UEA Young Writer Award 2025 has seen such an overwhelmingly positive response across Southeast Asia, with entries across eight countries.
'The winning and highly commended submissions are the work of writers of truly outstanding promise, already committed to the craft and dedication necessary to be a successful writer; but every submission showed potential and care. We look forward to the competition going from strength to strength over the coming years, giving us all the chance to hear from and be inspired by new and compelling voices across the globe.'
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