The Northern Writers’ Awards are open for submissions until 11.59pm on Thursday, 17 February 2022.
Read the list of available awards below to help you decide which award best suits your writing.
You can enter for one award, except that you may enter for a TLC Free Read, the Arvon Award or the Finchale Award for Short Fiction in addition to another award.
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.
The Hachette Children’s Novel Award is open to debut writers of middle-grade children’s fiction and early teen fiction.
We accept all kinds of children’s and early teen fiction, including but not limited to historical fiction, crime, science fiction, romance and fantasy. Please do not submit collections of short stories or individual short stories.
In terms of target age group, we are looking for fiction for children aged 7-11 (at the younger end of this bracket the word count can be 15-30K; at the older end, approx. 40K), or teen fiction for readers aged 11-13 (50-65K words), this should still exclude high-end or explicit content including swearing, sex and drugs.
There is one winner for this award. The winning writer will be offered a publishing contract from Hachette Children’s Group granting Hachette world rights in all languages, including audio, film, TV and merchandising, with an advance of £5,000 to be set against royalties. Royalties will be on Hachette Children’s Group’s standard terms. Additionally, the winner will receive access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Talent Network. HCG reserves the right to: (i) withdraw its offer of a contract to the winning writer if terms cannot be agreed (in these circumstances, the winning writer will still be paid £5,000); and (ii) offer an additional publishing deal to any of the shortlisted titles, on the same terms as the winning entry.
To enter writers should submit a sample of 3000-6000 words and a synopsis of up to 600 words. Please answer the application questions.
Writers longlisted for this award will be informed by 25 March 2022 and asked to submit a complete manuscript by 6 April 2022.
To apply for this award you should be:
The judging panel for this award is to be announced.
For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
For any enquiries, please read FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com
The NorthBound Book Award, supported by the University of York and in partnership with Saraband, is open to writers of fiction or narrative non-fiction who have completed a full manuscript. New, emerging or established writers may apply for this award. Please read the Eligibility carefully for further details.
There is one winner for this award. The award is for a full-length work. The winning writer will receive an advance against royalties of £5000, publication with Saraband and access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Talent Network. Royalties will be paid on Saraband’s standard terms.
The award celebrates the innovative spirit of independent publishing and the richness of writing from the North of England. Saraband is a leading award-winning independent publisher, now based in North West England, whose list includes Graeme Macrae Burnet, Chitra Ramaswamy and Karen Lloyd.
To enter writers should submit a full manuscript and a synopsis of up to 600 words. Please answer the application questions.
To apply for this award you should be:
This award will be judged by a panel of representatives from the University of York, Saraband and New Writing North, alongside the writer Catherine Simpson.
For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
For any enquiries, please read FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com
Winning poets will receive awards of between £2000 and £5000 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 but poets yet to publish a full-length collection should consider entering the Northern Debut Awards: Poetry.
Winners will also receive access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Talent Network.
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 of up to 600 words that describes the proposed project. Please answer the application questions.
To apply for this award you should be:
This award is judged by Helen Mort.
For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
For any enquiries, please read FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com
This programme will offer a package of support to three poets who are yet to publish a full-length collection.
The programme has been devised by New Writing North to offer developmental support to poets with a work in progress showing potential for publication.
Three awards will be made in this category. Each winner will receive £2000, mentoring and access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Talent Network.
One of the three winners will be accepted onto the Out-Spoken Press Emerging Poets Development Scheme and receive mentoring from Anthony Anaxagorou.
Additionally, all three poets will receive a group professional development session with a poetry publisher.
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.
To apply for this award you should be:
These awards are judged by Helen Mort and Anthony Anaxagorou.
For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
For any enquiries, please read FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com
Winners will receive awards of between £2000 and £5000 to support them to develop work in progress and to complete promising manuscripts. They will also be given access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Talent Network.
These awards are open to applications from both emerging and established writers, but we recommend that as-yet-unpublished writers consider entering the Northern Debut Awards: Fiction programme or the Hachette Children’s Novel Award. Please read the Eligibility criteria carefully to see if you can enter this award.
To enter writers should submit a sample of 3000–6000 words and a synopsis of up to 600 words. Please answer the application questions.
To apply for this award you should be:
This award will be judged by Tahmima Anam and Doug Johnstone.
For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
For any enquiries, please read FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com
This programme will offer a package of support to four writers of fiction, young adult fiction or narrative non-fiction who are yet to publish a full-length novel or collection of short stories.
Awards will be made to two writers of fiction/narrative non-fiction and one writer of young adult fiction; an additional writer will receive an award in memory of the writer Andrea Badenoch.
The programme has been devised by New Writing North to offer structured developmental support to writers with a work in progress showing potential for publication. Each winner will receive £2000, mentoring and access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Talent Network.
To enter writers should submit a sample of 3000–6000 words and a synopsis of up to 600 words. Please answer the application questions.
To apply for a this award you should be:
These awards will be judged by Tahmima Anam and Doug Johnstone (Fiction and Narrative Non-Fiction). Young Adult entries will be judged by Liz Flanagan. For more information, please read the Eligibility and Terms and Conditions carefully.
One place will be made in the name of Andrea Badenoch. The Andrea Badenoch Award is open to debut writers over the age of 42 who are women or non-binary. This award will be judged by Debbie Taylor and Margaret Wilkinson. Please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry for this award.
For any enquiries, please read FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com
The Sid Chaplin Award is for writers of fiction and narrative non-fiction who identify as originating from a working-class background.
The winning writer will receive a bursary of £2000; a manuscript appraisal from The Literary Consultancy; advisory sessions from the writer Michael Chaplin; an introduction to the North Agency; and access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Talent Network.
The award is made in memory of the writer Sid Chaplin (1916–1986) whose novels such as The Day of the Sardine and The Watchers and the Watched are celebrated for their stylistic mastery and their vivid depictions of working-class life in North East England.
We are very grateful to the Chaplin family, the North Agency and Newcastle University for their support of this award.
To enter writers should submit a sample of 3000–6000 words and a synopsis and answer the application questions.
To apply for this award you should be:
The award will be judged by the writer Katy Massey alongside representatives of the North Agency, the Chaplin family and Newcastle University.
For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
For any enquiries, please read FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com
This award is for a single unpublished short story of up to 1500 words. This opportunity is open to new, emerging and established writers.
The winner of the Finchale Award for Short Fiction will receive £1000 and access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Talent Network.
The award is named after Finchale Priory, a place of retreat for the monks of Durham during the Middle Ages. We’re massively grateful to the writer Benjamin Myers, whose generous support has made this unique opportunity possible.
To enter writers should submit a short story of up to 1500 words and answer the application questions.
Please note, you may enter this award in addition to one other award.
To apply for this award you should be:
This award will be judged by Wendy Erskine and Benjamin Myers.
For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
For any enquiries, please read FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com
For this award, we welcome entries from people who may have faced barriers to seeing their work progress for financial reasons or issues connected to disability, ethnicity and/or sexuality. For more information, see TLC’s website.
In conjunction with The Literary Consultancy we are offering up to three 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). Although your manuscript does not have to be complete, you must be in a position to submit the manuscript for assessment during 2022. Unpublished and previously published writers may enter work in this category.
In addition to the Free Read, writers will receive a £500 bursary from New Writing North and access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Talent Network.
To enter writers should submit and extract of between 3000 and 6000 words and a synopsis of up to 600 words. Please answer the application questions. Please note, you may enter this award in addition to one other award.
To apply for this award you should be:
This award will be judged by our Northern Writers’ Awards judges and representatives of New Writing North.
For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
For any enquiries, please read FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com
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. We are grateful to Arvon for their continued support of this award.
To enter writers should submit a sample of 3000–6000 words and a synopsis of up to 600 words. Please answer the application questions. Please note, you may enter this award in addition to one other award.
To apply for this award you should be:
This award will be judged by Arvon and New Writing North.
For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
For any enquiries, please read FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com
This award, worth £2000, is open to writers of poetry, fiction and narrative non-fiction who are either final-year students or recent graduates at Northumbria University who are based in the North of England. Writers can be at any stage in their career.
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 ten years.
To enter writers should submit a sample of 3000–6000 words and a synopsis of up to 600 words. Please answer the application questions.
To apply for this award you should be:
A shortlist will be selected by Northumbria University staff with the winner chosen by judges Tahmima Anam and Doug Johnstone.
For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
For any enquiries, please read FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com
This award is open to young writers aged 11-18 in the North of England. Young writers can submit creative work in any form including prose, poetry, scriptwriting, blogging, songwriting and rap.
There are two age categories, 11-14 and 15-18. Entrants must be 18 years or under on Thursday 17 February 2022 when the awards close. The winner in each category will receive prize money of £150. Up to two writers may also be highly commended across the age categories.
Applications for the awards are accepted in two ways:
Click the button below to apply for or nominate for the awards.
The Matthew Hale Award is open to young writers who show promise but have had limited opportunities to pursue their talent. This could be due to a number of factors, including physical or mental ill-health, family circumstances, financial circumstances, lack of access to cultural opportunities or any other reasons.
This award is for a young person aged 11-18 based in the North of England. Entrants must be 18 years or under on 17 February 2022 when the awards close. Young writers can submit creative work in any form including prose, poetry, scriptwriting, blogging, songwriting and rap.
There is one award winner each year. The 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 winner, but could include anything from one-on-one mentoring with a professional writer, enrolment on a course, books, theatre tickets or a pass to a literature festival.
This award is judged by the family of Matthew Hale and New Writing North.
Applications for the awards are accepted in two ways:
Click the button below to apply for or nominate for the awards.
