Plus is again looking for the science writers of the future, who can make mathematics lively and interesting for a general audience. The Plus new writers award gives you (or your students) a chance to join our acclaimed list of authors, including physicist Stephen Hawking, mathematician and writer Marcus du Sautoy, and NASA astronaut Michael Foale. Whether you're young or old, a student or a teacher, a maths expert or an enthusiastic amateur, if you want to share your fascination with maths with the rest of the world, then this is a great way to give it a go.

The competition is kindly sponsored by the Maths, Stats and Operational Research Network, a Subject Centre of the Higher Education Academy, and by the London Mathematical Society.

There are three categories to this writing competition: Secondary school and sixth form students are invited to write a piece of up to 900 words about the life and/or work of any mathematician, living or dead.University students, undergraduate and postgraduate, and the general public can write a longer piece on any mathematical topic or application they think the world should know about.

The winning entries will be read by an international audience of over 200,000 in the June 2008 issue of Plus. The closing date is March 31st 2008. Besides the fame and glory of seeing your article published in Plus (one of last year's winners went on to write for New Scientist), there are also prizes for the best submissions, including signed copies of popular science books, an Apple iPod and a subscription to the journal Nature, kindly donated by its publisher.

Our competition website contains all the relevant information, as well as posters for download, in case you want to advertise the competition in your school or college.

So if you know some maths you want to shout about, download your entry pack now and get writing!