The Universal Reading Foundation is pleased to recommend participation in the “Piórko” literary competition, which promotes literary talents and engages authors in the development of children’s literature.
Debuting writers, lyricists, creators, masters of words! It's time to ruffle feathers, sharpen nibs and warm up keyboards! The next, 11th edition of the literary competition "Piórko. Biedronka Award for a Children's Book" is starting! Up to PLN 100,000 for the winning text in the first stage and PLN 100,000 for the author of the best illustrations in the second stage of the competition.
The "Piórko" competition is a unique initiative supporting literary talents and promoting reading among the youngest. It consists of two stages - in the first, the best text is selected, which then goes to illustrators, creating a complete book for children. In this way, the winning book was published last year "My Black Happiness" by Agnieszka Piwoń and Dorota Żak.
"Who will be lucky this year and convince the jury? We will find out in a few weeks, but this time it will probably not be bleak. From our point of view, however, the most important thing is that in the year of Biedronka's 30th anniversary on the Polish market, we will once again choose two debuting talents. And by combining them, we will create a unique book that will encourage the youngest to read - preferably with their parents. Because reading from an early age makes special sense
in the era of smartphones, memes and social media" - says Arkadiusz Mierzwa, director of corporate communications at the Biedronka chain, member of the competition jury in both categories.
What do you need to do to participate? All you need is an idea for a story for children between 4 and 10 years old and register on the competition website https://piorko.biedronka.pl/.
In the first stage, Biedronka and the jury are waiting for submitted texts until 20.03. The competition is open to any adult Polish citizen who does not have a professional book publication with an ISBN number. The participant's task is to prepare a text of 20 to 60 thousand characters (including spaces) on any topic, in accordance with the cognitive abilities of children aged 4 to 10 (the exact age of the recipient in this regard is chosen by the writer). Participants can submit a maximum of 3 texts in one edition, and the results of the first stage will be announced in May 2025.
The second stage of the competition will begin on May 16, 2025 and will last until July 1, 2025 (until 11:59 p.m.). In this stage, debuting illustrators will be invited, who will be tasked with creating illustrations for the winning text from the first stage. The best graphic works will be selected by the jury and combined with the text into one, unique book, which will go on sale in the Biedronka chain of stores on November 13, 2025.
The competition opens the door to the world of children's literature for debuting authors. It is not only a chance to debut in the world of children's books, but also an extraordinary creative adventure. The slogan of this year's edition "You can ruffle your feathers" – refers to the courage to present one’s work and encourages authors and illustrators to spread the wings of their creativity.
The competition has enjoyed great interest for years and has contributed to enriching children's literature with new, valuable titles. Thanks to it, 10 books have already appeared on the market, which have won the hearts of young readers and their parents, reaching over 580,000 Polish homes so far.
Detailed information about the competition rules and important dates is available on the website https://piorko.biedronka.pl/.
The media patrons of the “Piórko 2023. Biedronka Award for Children’s Books” competition are: Gazeta.pl, e-Child, kultura.gazeta.pl, Books. Magazine to read, highheels.pl, Radio TOK FM and Tele Week. Since the first edition, the honorary patronage over the Piórko has been held by the Ombudsman for Children.
Key dates:
- Stage I of the Competition lasts from 13 February 2025 to 16 May 2025. Applications are accepted via the website piorko.biedronka.pl from 13/02, 12:00 – until 20/03, 23:59.
- Stage II of the Competition lasts from 16 May 2025 to 9 September 2025. Applications are accepted via the website piorko.biedronka.pl from 16 May to 1 July (11:59 p.m.).
- 13.11 – The start of sales in all Biedronka chain stores of the book, which was created as a result of the competition "Piórko 2025. Biedronka Award for a Children's Book".
The Universal Reading Foundation encourages all writing enthusiasts to take part in the competition. This is a unique opportunity to share your work and compete for fantastic prizes!
