Young Authors Fiction Festival
The American Library in Paris is proud to be the organizer of the Young Authors Fiction Festival (YAFF). YAFF is free of charge and open to all students ages 5–18 in France who write in English. YAFF is a short story writing contest (the only creative writing initiative in the Paris area in English) that aims to strengthen community among English-speakers through the art and craft of storytelling. The Library believes that creative writing plays an important role in a child’s literacy development. Creative writing is fun and a great tool to help broaden a child’s imagination and foster a life-long love of reading and writing.
The Young Authors Fiction Festival originated as The Red Wheelbarrow Writing Contest, which began in 2001 with l’Ecole Massillon and a handful of Paris-based members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), who acted as judges. YAFF is now a highlight of Library programming and the only English creative writing initiative for children in Paris. In 2022 the Library received 685 YAFF entries submitted from 50 schools and writing programs. In 2023 the Library received 1018 entries submitted from over 90 schools and writing programs. We hope that YAFF will continue to grow in the years to come. The YAFF team consists of Library staff and volunteers and includes the involvement of over 120 judges from the Library’s community and beyond.
We encourage parents, teachers, educators, and schools to help nurture and develop a passion and practice for creative writing in children by participating in YAFF. The Library offers many resources for creative writing, including writing guides, creative games, and workshops offered throughout the year. Together, and with YAFF, the Library hopes to raise and nurture the next generation of writers and authors!
Young Authors Fiction Festival 2023
Submissions were open for YAFF 2023 between 1 February 2023 and 1 April 2023. YAFF 2023 received over 1000 submissions! We congratulate all the young authors that completed and submitted their story.
Congratulations to this year’s finalists! The 1st–5th winners in each grade category for YAFF 2023 were announced during the Celebration Event at The American Library in Paris on Friday 16 June. See the full list 1st–5th place winners for YAFF 2023 and full list of the 1,108 young authors and story titles submitted for YAFF 2023.
Two YAFF celebration booklets were published by the Library, with the full stories of the 1st–5th place winners from Kindergarten/Grande Section–5th Grade/CM2 in the first booklet, and 6th Grade/6ème–12th Grade/Terminale grades in the second. The 2023 Celebration Booklets, along with the 2013–2022 booklets, are also available for Library members to check out from the Library collection.
YAFF Committee
YAFF involves months of work and behind-the-scenes organization which is overseen by the YAFF Committee. The YAFF 2023 Committee was made up of Kirsty McCulloch Reid, volunteering as YAFF Coordinator, Celeste Rhoads, Children and Teens Services Manager at the Library, and volunteers Molly Belhiteche, Brooke Burns, Pallas-Amenah Morgan and Martha Simmons. The YAFF Committee was responsible for all aspects of running YAFF 2023 (including outreach to schools, recruiting judges, coordinating submissions, sending results, and compiling the stories into the Celebration Booklets. The Library thanks them for their time and efforts ensuring that YAFF 2023 was a success. You can reach them via yaff@americanlibraryinparis.org
YAFF Judging
YAFF 2023 was made possible thanks to 105 volunteer judges who read the 1,018 story submissions. You can view a full list of the YAFF 2023 judges here. Stories were set to the judges by the YAFF Committee without the authors’ names attached, so the stories could be judged anonymously. Each story was read by a minimum of six judges over two rounds. Stories were judged on creativity, strong storytelling, and a clear beginning, middle and end. Also taken into consideration: how well the setting and characters are developed and described, good use of dialogue and a range of vocabulary, and the correct use of grammar. For further information about YAFF processes please see the YAFF FAQ page. The YAFF Committee and the Library thank the judges for their time, enthusiasm and thoughtfulness in choosing the winners for 2023.
YAFF Results and Celebration Events
Finalists were notified of their results via email in May 2023. The prize for winning YAFF is that you become a published author as the top five stories in each grade are published in the YAFF Celebration Booklet, which is available to purchase.
Who can enter?
The Young Authors Fiction Festival is free to enter and is open to all young authors, from Kindergarten/Grande Section to 12th Grade/Terminale, who write in English and live in France.
Guidelines for submission
Each participant may submit ONE (1) original story, written in English.
All stories must:
- Be within the word limits below:
– 750 words maximum for Kindergarten-5th Grade/Grande Section-CM2
– 1000 words maximum for 6th Grade-12th Grade/6ème-Terminale
- Be written between 1 April 2022 and 1 April 2023
- Be typed using 12 point Times New Roman or Arial font and double-spaced
- Not include any handwritten work, illustrations, or colored text
- Not include the participant’s name anywhere in the document or file name
- Be saved in .DOC format (no PDFs accepted) with the story title as the file name
Submissions that do not meet all of these guidelines will not be accepted.
Questions? For more information see the YAFF FAQs page or contact us at yaff@americanlibraryinparis.org
Previous Years
In 2022 the Library received 685 YAFF submissions from sixty schools and writing programs. The Library applauds every author who submitted a story, as well as the teachers, parents, friends, and families who support and encourage creativity.
The organization and production of YAFF is a tremendous task that is spread out over many months and requires hard work and dedication from the YAFF Committee, which is a small team made up of Library staff and volunteers. We are grateful to them, and the whole Library staff, for making YAFF 2022 a success.
The YAFF 2022 Committee was made up of Kirsty McCulloch Reid, Coordinator, the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads, and volunteers Molly Belhiteche, Brooke Burns, Lucy McCloskey, Martha Simmons, and Katherine Youngblood.
The Committee would like to recognize the talents of Louise Damiano for her graphic design work. The YAFF 2022 Committee also extends its thanks to the 117 volunteer judges who participated in two rounds of judging in 2022.
The festival culminated with two celebration events on Friday 10 June at the Library, hosted by the YAFF Committee and several of the YAFF Judges. The celebrations included the announcement of the winners (a full list can be found here), comments from the judges, and the presentation of the winners’ bookmarks and certificates. Over 200 people attended the events, including the young author finalists, parents, family members, friends and teachers. Photos from the events can be viewed on the Library’s Flickr.
Two YAFF celebration booklets were published by the Library, with the full stories of the 1st – 5th place winners from Kindergarten to 5th grades in the first booklet, and 6th – 12th grades in the second. The 2022 Celebration Booklets, along with the 2013-2021 booklets, are also available for Library members to check out from the Library collection.
The Library is grateful to The British Council in France, Marymount International School Paris and Union School for their support of YAFF 2022.
YAFF 2021 received 888 entries, written by children from fifty schools and writing classes in and around Paris. We congratulate all who participated. The Library thanks the 123 judges who volunteered their time and enthusiasm, reading the stories and selecting the winners, as well as the YAFF 2021 committee, who took care of all of the details along the way.
The YAFF 2021 Committee was made up of volunteers Molly Belhiteche, Brooke Burns, Martha Simmons and Katherine Youngblood, as well as Library staff members, Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads, and Children’s and Teen’s Librarian Kirsty McCulloch Reid, who coordinated the festival. The YAFF Committee processed all the stories submitted to the festival, coordinated the judges and the judging process, and took care of the adminstrative tasks associated with YAFF.
The festival culminated with two virtual celebration events on Friday 11 June, hosted by the YAFF Committee and several of the YAFF Judges. The celebrations included the announcement of the winners (a full list can be found here), comments from the judges, and a reading of one of the finalists’ stories for each grade. Over 200 people attended on Zoom, including the young author finalists, parents, family members, friends and teachers.
Two YAFF celebration booklets were published by the Library, with the full stories of the 1st – 5th place winners from Kindergarten to 5th grades in the first booklet, and 6th – 12th grades in the second. The 2021 Celebration Booklets, along with the 2013-2020 booklets, are available for checkout from the Library collection. Each finalist for YAFF 2021 was awarded a certificate and a personalised bookmark with a comment from a judge who read their story, their grade, name and story title as well as they place they achieved.
The Library thanks Louise Damiano, who beautifully designed the bookmarks as well as the certificates and booklet covers.
The Library would also like to thank The British Council who sponsored YAFF 2021.
YAFF 2020 received 630 entries, written by children from fifty schools and writing classes in and around Paris. We congratulate all who participated. The Library thanks the 106 judges who volunteered their time and enthusiasm, reading the stories and selecting the winners, as well as the YAFF 2020 committee, who took care of all of the details along the way.
The YAFF 2020 committee included volunteers Lucy McCloskey, Martha Simmons, and Katherine Youngblood, as well as Library staff members Kirsty McCulloch Reid, Celeste Rhoads, and Morgan Wurzburger. Special thanks to Library director Audrey Chapuis for her support and guidance, to the Library staff who supported YAFF, and the parents and teachers who encouraged their children’s creative writing efforts.
The festival culminated with two virtual celebration events on Friday 12 June, hosted by the Library’s YAFF Team. The celebrations included the announcement of the winners (a full list can be found here), comments from the judges, and readings of one of the finalists’ stories per grade. Over 200 people attended on Zoom, including the young author finalists, parents, teachers, and Library volunteers who judged for the festival.
Two YAFF celebration booklets were printed, with the full stories of the 1st – 5th place winners from Kindergarten to 5th grades in the first booklet, and 6th– 12th grades in the second. Each finalist was awarded a certificate and a personalised bookmark with a comment from a judge who read their story.
The Library thanks Louise Damiano, for her wonderful designs on the bookmarks as well as the certificates and booklet covers.
The Library would also like to thank The British Council and The Roaming Schoolhouse, who both sponsored YAFF 2020.
The YAFF 2020 Booklets (as well as the 2013-2019 Booklets) are available for checkout from the Library.
