25 writers recognised at the Northern Writers’ Awards 2023
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Please join us in congratulating the 25 writers who received Northern Writers’ Awards worth over £50,000 in cash awards, mentoring and support last night. If you missed the livestream, you can watch it again here.
The Northern Writers’ Awards were founded by New Writing North in 2000 and exist to recognise talent and support new work towards publication or broadcast. Now in their 24th year, the awards are the largest writing development programme of their kind in England.
Each year, the awards identify some of the best unpublished writing in the country, attracting the attention of literary agents and publishers for whom the incredible track record of the awards marks a stamp of approval. In 2023 alone, more than a dozen books have been published by previous Northern Writers’ Awards winners, including A Dark Inheritance by HF Askwith (Penguin); Cuddy by Benjamin Myers (Bloomsbury); Lily Grim and The City of Undone by Andy Ruffell (Hodder); Dear Neighbour by Jane Claire Bradley (Sphere); The Ink Cloud Reader by Kit Fan (Carcanet); and The Summer She Vanished by Jessica Irena Smith (Headline).
The Northern Writers’ Awards are produced by New Writing North with support from Northumbria University and Arts Council England.
Awards offered in this round are supported by partners including Hachette Children’s Group, Newcastle University, The North Literary Agency, the writer Benjamin Myers and the families and friends of Sid Chaplin and Matthew Hale.
Several of the awards are enhanced by partnerships with the Literary Consultancy, the Society of Authors, Out-Spoken Press and Oneworld. New for 2023, winners of Northern Debut Awards will also receive a group Writing Weekend at Lockhaugh Farm in Derwent Valley.
Since 2023, the Northern Writers’ Awards have moved to staggered, year-round submission windows due to growth in the programme, meaning that even more awards with partners including Channel 4, Arvon, Rollem Productions, Lime Pictures, Bonafide Films, and the Word Factory will be announced later in the year.
The Northern Writers’ Awards offer a wide range of support and opportunities for writers at all stages of their careers, including mentoring, manuscript assessment, writing placements, retreats and cash awards to buy time to write.
You can currently enter the TLC Free Reads and Arvon Awards here until 31 July.
The winners of Northern Writers’ Awards 2023 are:
Northern Writers’ Award for Fiction
Alison Armstrong
Emma Morgan
Northern Writers’ Awards for Poetry
Holly Hopkins
Liam Bates
Hachette Children’s Novel Awards
Rachel Pattinson
Rachel Rowlands
Northern Debut Award for Fiction
Anton Rose
Northern Debut Award for Memoir
Yvonne Reddick
Northern Debut Award for Young Adult Fiction
Bridget Helen Hamilton
Northern Debut Awards for Poetry
Carson Wolfe
Northern Debut Award for Poetry: Out-Spoken Press Programme
Alex Mepham
Jane Thomas
Northern Promise TLC Awards
Letty Butler
Farzana A Ghani
Katja L Kaine
Northumbria University Student and Alumni Award
Helen Parker
Sid Chaplin Award
Dr Louise Marie Powell (Winner)
Candi Martin (Highly Commended)
Finchale Award for Short Fiction
Sarah Davy
Young Northern Writers’ Awards
Fadi Alali (Fezzy) (Winner, 11-14)
Abby Wilson (Highly Commended, 11-14)
Isabel Johnson (Winner, 15-18)
Joe Wright (Highly Commended, 15-18)
Matthew Hale Award
Robert Hall (Winner)
Hanna Elkaram (Highly Commended)
Find out more about all of our winners here