The awards are now closed. We expect to let applicants know the outcome by 30 May 2018.
Read the list of available awards below to help you decide which award best suits your writing. Remember that unless stated otherwise for a particular award, you may only enter for one category.
Carefully read the eligibility criteria for the award you have chosen to ensure that you can apply for it. The Awards are only open to writers based in the North of England.
Read the entry questions carefully. You may save a draft of your submission in the submissions portal, however, it is highly recommended that you draft your answers offline initially so that you don’t lose any work.
Prepare your synopsis and writing sample carefully so that they are ready to upload. Once submitted, your application can no longer be edited.
Use the Frequently Asked Questions to guide you while you make your application. Most queries will be answered here, but if you can’t find what you’re looking for, please contact us. Our website also includes various resources that may be useful as you construct your application.
Winners will receive awards of between £500 and £5,000 to support them to develop work in progress and to complete promising manuscripts. These awards are open to applications from both emerging and established writers. Winners may also receive membership of the Society of Authors, should they meet the Society’s eligibility criteria.
Judged by Kerry Hudson and Jonathan Ruppin
The awards are now closed
Winning poets will receive awards of between £500 and £5,000 to support them to develop work in progress and to complete promising collections. These awards are open to applications from both emerging and established poets. To enter poets should submit up to 30 poems or an equivalent amount of longer sequences. Each submission of work must be accompanied by a commentary that describes the proposed project.
The Waterhouse Poetry Award will be offered to one of the winners of the Northern Writers’ Awards at the discretion of the judges. This is not an award that can be directly applied for.
Judged by Imtiaz Dharker
The awards are now closed
Winners will receive awards of between £500 and £5,000 to support them to develop work in progress and to complete promising manuscripts. These awards are open to applications from both emerging and established writers. Winners may also receive membership of the Society of Authors, should they meet the Society’s eligibility criteria.
Judged by Lisa Williamson
The awards are now closed
New Writing North are delighted to be working with the independent publisher And Other Stories to offer a fiction writer the chance to win the inaugural Northern Book Prize. The winning writer will receive £5000, editorial support and a contract for worldwide publication from And Other Stories. The writer will also have access to other developmental opportunities offered by New Writing North.
Judged by Ian McMillan, Tara Tobler, Conor O’Callaghan and Claire Malcolm
The awards are now closed
In conjunction with The Literary Consultancy we are offering up to five poets, prose writers and children’s writers the chance to receive an in-depth editorial report on their work in progress, worth up to £300 each. You must be working towards a full-length work (e.g. a novel, work of creative non-fiction, poetry collection or short-story collection), but your manuscript does not have to be complete.
These awards support writers to develop work in progress and to complete books. These awards are open to applications from both emerging and established writers. Please note, you may enter this award in addition to one of the other award categories.
For this award, we especially welcome entries from people who may have faced barriers to seeing their work progress for reasons of social status, disability, ethnicity and/or sexuality. For more information, see TLC’s website.
Judged by our Northern Writers’ Awards judges and representatives of New Writing North
The awards are now closed
This award, worth £2,000 is supported by the friends and family of the late writer and was established in her name. This award is for first-time female writers over the age of 42, the age at which Andrea published her first novel.
Judged by Debbie Taylor and Margaret Wilkinson
The awards are now closed
In conjunction with Arvon, we are offering a prose writer the chance to undertake an Arvon course. This may be either a tutored or untutored retreat, depending on what you think will be of most benefit to you. Both children’s writers and writers for adults may apply for this award.
Judged by representatives of New Writing North and Arvon
The awards are now closed
This award, worth £2,000 is open to writers of fiction and poetry who are either final-year students or recent graduates from any discipline at Northumbria University who are based in the North of England. The award is open to students and graduates from any discipline who are: final-year undergraduates; current postgraduate students or alumni who have graduated from an undergraduate or postgraduate programme at Northumbria University within the last two years (since 2015).
Judged by our fiction judges and Northumbria University staff
The awards are now closed
There is one award available. The winner will be offered the unique chance to work closely with Lime Pictures through a mentoring placement on the serial drama Hollyoaks and a bursary worth £3,000.
No writing experience is necessary. For these awards, we want to discover new writers from Northern England who would like to work in television. We especially welcome submissions from Black and Minority Ethnic, LGBT and disabled writers, who are particularly under-represented in this area of the TV industry.
Judged by Lime Pictures, Channel 4 and New Writing North.
The awards are now closed
There is one award available. The winner will be offered the unique chance to work closely with Bonafide Films and receive a mentoring placement. The award is worth £3,000.
No writing experience is necessary. For this award, we want to discover new writers from Northern England who would like to work in television. We especially welcome submissions from Black and Minority Ethnic, LGBT and disabled writers, who are particularly under-represented in this area of the TV industry.
Judged by Bonafide Films, Channel 4 and New Writing North.
The awards are now closed
We are delighted to be working with the Word Factory to offer a short story writer based in the North access to the Word Factory Apprentice programme. This opportunity is open to writers who have not yet published a full-length work of fiction (either novels or short story collections). Previously self-published writers and published authors from other genres such as non-fiction and poetry may apply. The Word Factory Northern Apprentice will receive: mentoring from the writer Jenn Ashworth; a £1000 bursary from New Writing North; and a year’s free access to all Word Factory events and masterclasses. As a part of the programme, the winning writer will join an established writing community and have the chance to read a showcase event in London. More information about the Word Factory can be found at www.thewordfactory.tv.
Judged by The Word Factory, New Writing North and Jenn Ashworth
The awards are now closed
This award of £200 is for a young writer aged 14–18 who is writing poetry, fiction or creative non-fiction.
Judged by Lisa Williamson.
The awards are now closed
The Matthew Hale Award supports a young writer who shows promise but lacks the opportunity to pursue their talent. This could be for a number of reasons including physical or mental ill-health, family circumstances, lack of access to cultural opportunities or any other reasons.
This award is for a young person aged between 12 and 18 years at the time of application. The award is by nomination only. The young person can write in any form including prose, poetry, scriptwriting, blogging, songwriting, rap and any other form.
This award consists of a package of support created by New Writing North and is worth £500. The package will be tailored to the specific interests and needs of the winning young writer, but could include anything from one-on-one mentoring with a professional writer, enrollment on a course, books, theatre tickets or a pass to a literature festival. Nominations for recipients of this award are invited from parents, teachers or other adults.
This award is made through a nomination process, with final decisions made by the family of Matthew Hale and New Writing North.
The awards are now closed
