The winning stories of the BBC 500 Words 2024/25 competition

In February, 50 finalists were invited to the BBC 500 Words grand final, hosted by Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace, where the six winners of the 2024/25 competition were revealed.

The winners were announced by special guests Olivia Colman, McFly's Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones, Matt Lucas, Rose Ayling-Ellis, JB Gill and Rob Brydon, during a special 500 Words with The One Show programme, presented by Alex Jones and Roman Kemp.

Also in attendance were the official panel of judges, Sir Lenny Henry, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Francesca Simon, Charlie Higson, and Malorie Blackman. Alongside Olivia Dean, the panel decided on the winners after almost 44,000 entries were whittled down to a top 50, by thousands of volunteer judges and our partners, The Reading Agency. All of the stories were judged anonymously at every stage - with our six winning writers finally revealed at the spectacular Buckingham Palace event.

You can also read or listen to all 50 of our incredible finalists' stories here and an extended CBBC version of the final is available to watch on iPlayer.

Winner: My Name is Jack by Dylan E, read by actor and Strictly Come Dancing star, Rose Ayling-Ellis.

Dylan said: "My parents took me to the slavery museum in Liverpool so I could learn more about the subject. I kept thinking about him and imagining what he would have been like and I decided I wanted to write a story about his life."

Sir Lenny Henry said: "It really moved us - the simplicity of the language, the direct communication with the reader - it’s almost like a personal testimony. It moved us."

Winner: Thumbed Cat by Michael M, read by McFly's Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones.

Michael said: "My cat Frank always gets into cupboards and tries to rip open his cat food bags, he makes holes in them. I wondered what trouble he’d get into with opening food tins and being able to use door locks and a computer with a mouse, if he was a cat with a thumb on each of his front paws."

Malorie Blackman said: "It was so entertaining and I think it also had something to say about the fact that this cat had opposable thumbs, what it meant to its life, and how its thinking changed. It was just so inventive, so inventive, so I tip my hat to the author of the story."

Winner: Bruce’s Big Choice by Harvey G, read by actor and comedian Matt Lucas.

Harvey said: "I love reading and writing because it’s like going on an adventure from my room. My favourite book is “The Witches” by Roald Dahl, nice stories are lovely but gruesome and scary stories are better."

Francesca Simon said: "Bruce’s Big Choice absolutely leapt out at me. I thought it was a beautifully constructed story, it had a fantastic twist and it was funny, it was well-written- it had this great situation of should we get together and found a new race of dinosaurs or should I just eat you? And it was just so on the nail really and I liked it every single time I read it."

Winner: A TRAM-atic Journey, by Ash B, read by actor Olivia Colman.

Ash said: "I like reading humorous books that make me laugh so I wrote some gags into my story too. I like to think about the things around me and make stories up about them, my next story might be about some squirrels who stole the internet, or the King of Geese and his Goose Patrol. I love the magical world that stories can take you to."

Frank Cottrell-Boyce said: "I love that the tension of it just builds and builds and builds and builds - the inspector is coming down to the narrator. Things keep stopping him so the tension never goes but it builds so beautifully and becomes so absurd."

Winner: The Transformation by Blake S, read by singer and presenter JB Gill.

Blake said: "I love reading because it can transport me to whole new worlds full of amazing things that don’t exist in our world (or do they!?). You never know where you will go next. And I love writing, because then you have the power to do that for other people – just with words on paper – and you can make the worlds whatever you want them to be."

Charlie Higson said: "I thought The Transformation was very well structured. 500 Words is a story telling competition and it works as a story. A little story miniature, just in 500 words. It sets it up well, there’s a great sense of where you are, what’s happening. And also the character’s a boy and his father in it. And things happen, which you don’t always expect. So classically it had a beginning, a middle and an end - and a werewolf. What more do you want in a story!"

Winner: A New Harmony by Theo A, read by actor and comedian Rob Brydon.

Theo said: "My story was inspired by my love of music. I play the violin, and I play in an orchestra, and I think it’s astonishing how every aspect of the orchestra moves as a whole. I love personifying things, something I often do at school, so I decided to personify the instruments and put them in their own world."

Olivia Dean said: "As a musician, I think A New Harmony just really spoke to me and I love music and I am fascinated about instruments and how they play together - and I just think it was well done and meaningful and I loved at the end, the things could interact with each other. It’s not the goodies and the baddies, it’s about finding balance."

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