A British-Nigerian pupil, Annalise Ikeasomba, has achieved a remarkable feat by winning Bronze at the BBC 500 Words creative writing competition for 2025/26 from over 46,500 submitted entries.
Annalise’s story, The Jollof Code, which revolved around a mystery in a bustling Lagos restaurant where a famous pot of jollof rice vanished and was technically salvaged, got selected for the 8-11 age category. The BBC 500 Words is the UK’s most celebrated children’s writing competition showcasing homegrown storytelling.
She celebrated this achievement with other winners and exceptional young writers from all across the UK last week at Windsor Castle, meeting Her Majesty, Queen Camilla, who invited them to a reception to honour their incredible stories.
The Grand Final was hosted by Alex Jones and Roman Kemp and the six winning entries –to be revealed in a special edition of The One Show on Friday 6 March– were read at the event.
Cerys Griffiths, Head of BBC Bitesize said, “A love of reading, writing and storytelling are the foundations for all learning and today was a wonderful celebration of that creativity and imagination.”
Annalise’s success has also been celebrated by her school, which made a social media post: “We are so proud of our superstar pupil” stating that she has “truly inspired us all with her love of writing.”
Sharing where she got her inspiration from, Annalise noted that The Jollof Code was “inspired by characters from action heroes like The Power Rangers and Miraculous Ladybug. They are filled with exciting adventures and magical powers.” She added, “My favourite book, though I have many, is Planet Omar.”
And promising not to rest on her laurels, the star girl hinted: “I would like to write several series of The Jollof Code as there are so many parts of the story to be told and so many adventures that the characters will embark on.”
Her story was professionally illustrated and published as part of the competition’s recognition for top finalists.
