emagazine Close Reading Competition 2026
Every year EMC runs a competition for advanced level students on close reading, one of the most important aspects of any course on literature. The competition is simple – read the extract from the prose text we’ve chosen, Twist by Colum McCann, and write 500 words about it. The writing should be your own, and we’d encourage you to do it unassisted, rather than after class discussion. Do not use AI. We’re interested in your ideas and are looking for your insights, so you’re unlikely to win if you say much the same as every other student in your class.
- Download the extract. It is the opening of Twist. a novel by Colum McCann published in 2025, about a journalist who travels to Cape Town to pursue a story about a boat and its crew whose job is to repair fibre-optic cables at the bottom of the sea. The boat is captained by John Conway. The repair mission runs into trouble and Conway disappears.
- Write no more than 500 words about the extract, in which you explore what you find most interesting about it as the opening of a novel.
- Submit your entry before 5pm Wednesday 20th May.
- NB: Only entries submitted via the official entry form above will be accepted.
- Deadline: 5pm Wednesday 20th May.
- Winner announced online beginning of July.
- Winning entry published in emagazine 113, September 2026.
Tom Gatti, Literary Editor of The Observer and emagazine editors.
- Winner: £150 and publication in emagazine.
- Runners-up: £50 and publication online.
emagazine competitions are open to all 16-19 year olds in full-time education, studying A Levels, IB or equivalent advanced level courses. This means that students who finish their course in Summer 2026 are eligible to enter.