Batty Laureate Awards 2022

This year we were excited to have more entries than before from both adults and children, all celebrating bats in creative writing. The judges had to work hard to select the winners as the pieces of creative writing were diverse including poetry and prose, and for some of the Young Batty Laureate entries, illustrations as well!

The judges really enjoyed reading all the Batty Laureate entries but the 2022 Winners were:

Batty Laureate 2022 (adult) – Jane Smith for “How to say thank you to bats”

Young Batty Laureate 2022 – Connie Adams (11) for “The secret behind the waterfall ”

Well done Jane and Connie!

Fiona Mordaunt, author of The Frog Theory read “How to say thank you to bats” and said: “This was so sad. I hate to think what humans do to nature and I admire people who do so much to spread their appreciation of nature/symbiosis. What a wonderful tribute and pledge to bats.”

The Young Batty Laureate Award was open to children aged 6-12 years old. Entrants were limited to 500 words and the judges wished they could have read more of Connie’s story. They said:

“WOW, this really stood out among the entries. A stunning piece of writing, I want to know more! Keep writing, I'd love to read books by you one day. Fantastic work, well done.” Emma Reynolds, author of Amara and the bats

“I would really love to read the rest of this adventure and I hope Connie continues because she's a very talented writer.” Jo Boyles, The Rocketship Bookshop

Thank you to the Rocketship Bookshop for their support of the Young Batty Laureate Award 2022.

Well done to all the entrants this year, we hope you will continue to be inspired to write about bats!

For more information about the competition and previous winners, click here.