Are you bored with being in lockdown in Shepton Mallet? Wondering what to turn your hand to next?

Why not get those creative juices flowing and enter the Wells Festival of Literature's writing competitions?

You could win yourself a bit of extra spending money, not to mention the prestige of being a winner.

All competitions are now open. There are competitions for Poetry, Young Poets, Short Story and a Book for Children.

Each competition has an esteemed judge who will pick out a first, second and third prize winner, as well as the best local entry in each category (apart from the Young Poets). All winners will be awarded a cash prize.

The judges are all published authors and bring a wealth of experience to the task of selecting the very best piece in their field.

Jo Shapcott is the judge for Poetry. Jo has won a number of awards for her writing and currently holds the Queen's Gold Medal for poetry.

The Young Poets judge is Victoria Adukwei Bulley, who is a filmmaker as well as a poet and was the winner of the 2018 Eric Gregory Award for promising British poets under 30.

Duncan Minshull, who has more than 20 years' experience as a senior BBC radio producer for literary programmes, as well as writing about his passion for walking, is the judge for the Short Story.

The judge for the Book for Children is Fleur Hitchcock, author of Shrunk!, which was a Sunday Times Book of the Week. Fleur has written a further 16 books for young people.

Prize money is awarded for each competition. For the poetry first prize is £1,000, second prize £500 and third £250, plus a prize for the best local author of £100.

First prize for the Young Poets is £150, second prize £75 and third prize £50, plus a year's subscription to the Poetry Society.

For both the Short Story and the Book for Children the first prize is £750, second prize £300 and third prize £200, plus a prize for a local author of £100.

All winners will be announced at the prize giving ceremony, one of the highlights of the festival, which will be on October 18.

The Wells Festival of Literature is run entirely by volunteers and all profits go into state schools in the wider community to run events and pay for visiting authors to work with the children of all ages.

In fact 2.5 per cent of every £6 entry fee goes towards education projects, so each and every entry helps.

The competitions will close at midnight on June 30 2020. Go to the website www.wellsfestivalofliterature.org.uk for details of how to enter and good luck.