WELCOME TO THE LITMUS!
The Litmus was launched at Trinity in 2020. It is an opportunity for year 9-11 students currently attending state school (or on a full scholarship to a fee-paying school) in the UK to submit a short piece of writing of under 500 words in poetry, prose or any other format (including artwork) based around a theme for publication.
This year – 2026 – will be the seventh following on from six years’ brilliant response to the themes of ‘in common’ , ‘the green light’, ‘the writing on the wall‘, ‘over the border‘, ‘hostile environment‘ and ‘word power’ which saw us receive hundreds of creative, original submissions from young people all over the UK, based on prompts announced by acclaimed author Ali Smith.
This Year’s Theme: Are you for Real?
Are you a writer? Do you want to write? If YES: good. Continue reading this message.
Are you a student in year 9, 10 or 11 and interested in writing – fiction, or non-fiction, or poetry, or maybe graphic novel writing, or blog writing, or in writing and storytelling in any shape or form you want?
If NO, then this invite isn’t for you. Pass it on to someone who wants to write and would like to be published.
If YES: Good. Continue reading this message.
What comes into your head when you hear or read or think about the phrase are you for real?
What does it mean, this phrase? If someone says it to you or you say it to someone, you’re saying I can’t believe what you just said, or are you serious? Above all, we’re asking about truth. Is what you’re doing or saying true? Do you really mean that? It signals shock, amazement. Are you kidding?
Take the phrase a step further. We’re living in a world where the question of what’s real or not has become immensely pressurised, especially what we see on screens, where realities are so easily altered – and right now we filter almost everything, from the everyday details of our personal lives all the way to world news and geopolitics, through screens.
How do we sort the real from the fake?
How much will it matter that we do?
How do we ground ourselves in a world where images and facts, where reality itself, can be so easily altered and re-presented to us? Is this simply our new reality? What does it mean for our lives? How do we tell what’s real and what’s not in such a reality?
What do lies do to us? Do we need truth? Does truth matter? Why?
Want to be a part of The Litmus?
We welcome artwork and writing of up to 500 words around the theme ‘word power’, open to UK students between Year 9 and Year 11 currently studying in a non fee-paying school (or in receipt of a full scholarship). The deadline for entries is Friday 19 July 2026.
Email [email protected] with any questions, or to withdraw or change your submission.