The Queen’s Commonwealth Writing Competition is described by the RCS as the world’s oldest international writing competition for schools.
An 18-year-old South African medical student has emerged the overall winner of the Queen’s Commonwealth Writing Competition 2026, beating thousands of young writers from across the Commonwealth.
Itumeleng Mhlongo, from Johannesburg, was named the overall and Africa regional winner for her entry, Foundation, in a competition that attracted a record 53,840 entries from 54 Commonwealth countries and territories.
The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS), which organises the competition, announced the winners following the introduction of regional awards for the first time, recognising outstanding young writers from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Americas, Europe, and the Pacific.
Mhlongo, a first-year medical student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, was born and raised in Tshepisong, a township in Johannesburg. She is the daughter of security guards and the first member of her family to attend university.
Two Weeks After Childbirth, Woman Loses Husband to Elephant Attack
Beyond her academic pursuits, she founded Bridge the Gap, a zero-data telemedicine project that connects underserved communities with volunteer doctors through USSD technology.
She also represented South Africa at the AFS Youth Assembly in Geneva, where she received an Outstanding Youth Research Award from the United Nations and the World Health Organisation.
The other regional winners are Aarav Roy, 15, from Ahmedabad, India, for The Weight of a Hand; Emma Cai, 18, from Brampton, Ontario, Canada, for Between the Cracks of Silence; Lydia Siqing, 13, from Paphos, Cyprus, for Punch the Monkey; and Kangwoo Moon, 15, from Christchurch, New Zealand, for Affinity for the Fallen.
Roy was recognised as the Asia regional winner, Cai for the Caribbean and Americas, Siqing for Europe, and Moon for the Pacific.
The winning entries were selected by a panel chaired by Sir Ben Okri, a Booker Prize-winning novelist and poet. Other judges included Imtiaz Dharker, a recipient of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, and Dr Paul Edmondson, head of research at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
The panel also featured author Annie Garthwaite, educator Caroline Haines, cookbook author Chetna Makan and Trinidadian writer and visual artist Portia Subran.
The RCS said the competition continues to inspire creativity, empathy and a shared sense of purpose among young people across the Commonwealth.
The winners are expected to travel to London in November for an awards ceremony at St James’s Palace, alongside activities designed to bring them together to celebrate their achievements and connect with fellow young writers.
The Queen’s Commonwealth Writing Competition is described by the RCS as the world’s oldest international writing competition for schools.
The society thanked participants, volunteer judges, supporters and partners whose contributions helped the competition achieve its record participation in 2026.
