We’re England’s leading creative writing charity for young people.
Our professional writers empower students from under-resourced and underrepresented communities with the confidence and skills to tell their own stories.
Our writers
First Story’s flagship Young Writers Programme places an inspiring writer in residence in a school for a year, where they work intensively with a group of young people towards a published anthology.
Our diverse community of writers, past and present, are acclaimed and award-winning authors, poets and playwrights. Talented, experienced writers have been delivering our programmes for more than a decade, bringing the skills and expertise to transform young people’s creativity, confidence and ability.
Our programmes
Young Writers Programme
Our flagship provision includes a professional writer, 16 weeks of after school workshops, a published anthology, plus exclusive access to extended activities and opportunities.
Young Writers Festival
Our annual event at the University of Cambridge brings together First Story students from partner schools nationally, for a fun day packed with workshops, talks and more.
Our young writers
We’re committed to amplifying emerging voices from underrepresented communities and to providing more platforms for our young writers to be read and heard.
Since 2008, we’ve published thousands of young writers’ poems and stories in hundreds of professionally produced anthologies—all of which are held in the collection of the British Library.
Where we work
What’s happening?
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