A Dartmouth teenager has been shortlisted for a prestigious BBC writing award after judges praised his “refreshing” and ambitious science-fiction story.

Solly Day-Stokoe, 18, is one of just five young writers from across the UK selected for the 2026 BBC Young Writers’ Award with the University of Cambridge.

His story, Lethe, is told from the perspective of a spaceship carrying 3,000 humans to an unknown destination.

As asteroids collide with the vessel, the spaceship continually recalculates and recalibrates its systems to survive.

But it eventually faces a more fundamental threat: the potential loss of its own identity.

Judges praised Solly’s experimental use of language and the story’s exploration of the relationship between memory and identity.

Solly wrote Lethe as an allegory for dementia, drawing on his great-aunt’s experience of the condition.

The title refers to Greek mythology and the river Lethe in the underworld, whose waters were said to wash away memories.

His story was selected from hundreds of entries to the competition, which is open to writers aged between 14 and 18.

The other shortlisted writers are Eloise Barrett, 17, from Birmingham, with Bloodshed in Rafah; Siddhi Garg, 14, from County Down, with The Day the Red Ran Away; Tom Ixer, 15, from Dorset, with Funny; and Nathan Karby, 16, from Wiltshire, with The Pillbox.

The shortlisted stories tackle subjects including war, grief, dementia and humanity’s survival.

BBC Radio 1 presenter Lauren Layfield, chair of the judging panel, said the five writers had been selected for their “confidence and creativity”.

She said: “This year’s young writers took on difficult subject matter, from artificial intelligence and conflict, through to peer pressure and friendship, and once again reminds us that the future of storytelling is bright and to hear them brought to life on BBC Sounds on going to be a real treat for all.”

Dr Bonnie Lander Johnson, Fellow, Lecturer and Director of Studies at the University of Cambridge, said Solly and the other shortlisted writers had produced work with “freshness and lyricism”.

She said: “These are not just writers for the future but artists in their own right, who are perceiving the world around them, around all of us, and laying it open with wit and energy. Congratulations to them all.”

The BBC Young Writers’ Award was launched in 2015 to discover and encourage new writing talent.

The winner will receive a personalised mentoring session with an author, while all five shortlisted writers will have the opportunity to pitch a short story idea to a BBC Radio producer.

That could lead to a commission to write a 2,000-word short story for broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

The shortlisted stories will also be available to hear on BBC Sounds.

Solly’s story will be read by actor Emily Stride, known for We Were The Lucky Ones.

The winner will be announced live from the awards ceremony at BBC Broadcasting House during Radio 4’s Front Row on Tuesday, September 29.