BCU Presents Benjamin Zephaniah

Future Writers

In celebration of the life and work of BCU Honorary Doctorate and national treasure Benjamin Zephaniah, who was an extraordinary poet, a passionate writer and a Birmingham icon.

Competition entries are now closed.

About Benjamin Zephaniah

Born and raised in Handsworth, Birmingham, Benjamin Zephaniah became a national treasure through his writing and extraordinary poetry, later becoming an actor, a musician and a professor of poetry and creative writing. His love of animals, nature, and his strong beliefs in human rights, made him popular with many. Benjamin drew on his lived experiences of dyslexia, incarceration, racism and his Jamaican heritage, and he aimed to make his work accessible for all. His writing shaped generations of both adults and children, and he left a remarkable legacy on the city he was born and the nation he called home.

The competition

BCU Presents: Benjamin Zephaniah Future Writers 2025 encouraged both children and adults to submit their own poems around a theme.

The theme

This theme for 2025 was inspired by Benjamin Zephaniah’s poem ‘Nature Trail’ and encouraged budding writers to submit poems about the environment, the spaces where they spend their time, the impact of nature on their everyday life, and the importance of looking after the planet.

The categories

Year Three and Year Four
Year Five and Year Six
Year Seven, Year Eight and Year Nine
Year Ten, Year Eleven, Year Twelve and Year Thirteen
Young Adults (18-29)
Adults (30+)

The Winners 2025

Year Three and Year Four Category

1st Place

Alya Abdulla

'Nature's Love'

2nd Place

Jack Smith

'What is Nature'

3rd Place

Vraya Mistry

'Walks in the Wild'

Year Five and Six Category

1st Place

Zoe Griffiths

'What’s wrong with us'

2nd Place

Annika Cullwick

'The Sea'

3rd Place

Clara Atkins

'Just a tree'

Year Seven, Eight and Nine Category

1st Place

Mimi Amjad

'Things That Grow Here'

2nd Place

Alayna-Jannah Adam

'The Trail Knows'

3rd Place

Charis Chan

'Pulse of the Dead'

Year Ten, Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen Category

1st Place

Zara Amjad

'Nature’s Lost and Found'

2nd Place

Issac Omotosho

'Another Day'

3rd Place

Amber Sarwar

'Trees don’t lie'

Young Adult Category

1st Place

Deontaye Osazuwa

'Brummie magic'

2nd Place

Zainab Imran

'Commute'

3rd Place

Elijah Denning

'What Grows Here'

Adult Category

1st Place

Tavia Panton

'My Guyana'

2nd Place

Laura-Jo McConnell

'Untamed'

3rd Place

Barbra Elaine Sandiford

'White Coral Island - A Caribbean Historical Tale of Barbados'

The judges for the 2025 Competition

Ade Adepitan

BCU Chancellor, TV Presenter and Author

Ayan Aden

Birmingham Poet Laureate 2024-2026

Shaherazad Umbreen

Director of Brand & Marketing at National Trust

Professor Gregory Leadbetter

Professor of Poetry at BCU

Madeleine Kludje

Deputy Artistic Director at The REP Birmingham

Selina Brown

Founder of the Black British Book Festival and Author

Naush Sabah

Lecturer in Creative Writing at BCU and Editor of Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal

Ty'rone Haughton

Artistic Director at Apples and Snakes

Sponsors and partners

National Trust
PBLJ
Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Apples and Snakes
Benjamin Zephaniah
The REP

Awards Ceremony 2025

Take a look at the Awards Ceremony 2025 photo gallery.

Photo gallery

The winners and judges of the Future Writers Awards 2025 celebrate their achievements in front of the Benjamin Zephaniah backdrop

Looking for inspiration?

Check out last year's winning pieces in the Future Writers 2025 Winners Anthology.

2025 Winners Anthology

Get in touch

Have any questions about the competition or keen to receive competition materials? Get in touch with the Future Writers team today.