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There is one award available.

The winner will be offered the unique chance to work closely with FilmNation TV UK through a long-term placement, a bursary worth £3000 and mentoring support. They will take part in a peer-group programme with opportunities to meet writers and industry professionals. The winner will also be given access to the C4/NWN Northern Talent Network.

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 people of colour and those from LGBTQ+, disabled and lower socio-economic backgrounds, who are particularly under-represented in this area of the TV industry.

FilmNation TV UK is part of international independent entertainment company FilmNation Entertainment, whose TV productions include Chris O’Dowd’s Small Town, Big Story, the award-winning HBO mini-series I Know This Much Is True, and the TV drama adaptation of Isabel Allende’s bestselling novel The House of the Spirits.

Please visit FilmNation TV UK’s website to find out more about the work they produce: https://www.filmnation.com/

This award will be judged by: FilmNation TV UK and New Writing North.

To enter writers should submit an outline of an original TV drama storyline (up to 400 words) and a sample script of no more than ten pages, and answer the application questions. Please note that writers who enter this award may also enter the other Channel 4 Writing for Television Award strands.

You don’t have to be writing in a specific genre or style to apply for these awards, but we would encourage you to take a look at the kinds of work the production companies have developed, and consider which might be the best fit for your writing.

The deadline for entries is 12 noon, 26 June 2026.

We are unable to accept submissions after this deadline.

To apply for this award you should be:

• Living in the North of England at the time of entering and planning to remain here for at least another 12 months.
• Over the age of 18.
• Writing for television and willing to commit to developing your work through the programme on offer.

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.

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There is one award available.

The winner will be offered the unique chance to work closely with Merman through a long-term placement, a bursary worth £3000 and mentoring support. They will take part in a peer-group programme with opportunities to meet writers and industry professionals. The winner will also be given access to the C4/NWN Northern Talent Network.

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 people of colour and those from LGBTQ+, disabled and lower socio-economic backgrounds, who are particularly under-represented in this area of the TV industry.

Merman is the production company behind Catastrophe, This Way Up, Motherland, Amandaland and Bad Sisters. Merman’s work stretches across comedy and drama but always with bold, character-led storytelling at its heart. Please visit Merman’s website to find out more about the work they produce: https://hellomerman.com/ 

Guidance from Merman
“Merman makes bold character-led work across both comedy and drama. The work we love is distinctive and authored, balancing sharp humour with emotional truth. We’re drawn to stories which are rooted in perspectives that don’t always get the limelight but speak to things we all relate to: family, friendship and the everyday struggle of trying to keep your life together. We’re excited by writers with distinctive voices who want to make funny, truthful work by bringing their strong point of view, unusual characters and unexpected humour.” 

This award will be judged by: Merman and New Writing North.

To enter writers should submit an outline of an original TV drama and/or comedy storyline (up to 400 words) and a sample script of no more than ten pages, and answer the application questions. Please note that writers who enter this award may also enter the other Channel 4 Writing for Television Award strands.

You don’t have to be writing in a specific genre or style to apply for these awards, but we would encourage you to take a look at the kinds of work the production companies have developed, and consider which might be the best fit for your writing.

The deadline for entries is 12 noon, 26 June 2026.

We are unable to accept submissions after this deadline.

To apply for this award you should be:

• Living in the North of England at the time of entering and planning to remain here for at least another 12 months.
• Over the age of 18.
• Writing for television and willing to commit to developing your work through the programme on offer.

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.

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There is one award available.

The winner will be offered the unique chance to work closely with Hat Trick Productions through a long-term placement, a bursary worth £3000 and mentoring support. They will take part in a peer-group programme with opportunities to meet writers and industry professionals. The winner will also be given access to the C4/NWN Northern Talent Network.

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 people of colour and those from LGBTQ+, disabled and lower socio-economic backgrounds, who are particularly under-represented in this area of the TV industry.

Hat Trick is the production company behind BAFTA award-winning comedy series Derry Girls and Middlesbrough native Phil Dunning’s Smoggie Queens. 

Please visit Hat Trick’s website to find out more about the work they produce: https://www.hattrick.co.uk/   

This award will be judged by: Hat Trick Productions and New Writing North.

To enter writers should submit an outline of an original TV comedy storyline (up to 400 words) and a sample script of no more than ten pages, and answer the application questions. Please note that writers who enter this award may also enter the other Channel 4 Writing for Television Award strands.

You don’t have to be writing in a specific genre or style to apply for these awards, but we would encourage you to take a look at the kinds of work the production companies have developed, and consider which might be the best fit for your writing.

The deadline for entries is 12 noon, 26 June 2026.

We are unable to accept submissions after this deadline.

To apply for this award you should be:

• Living in the North of England at the time of entering and planning to remain here for at least another 12 months.
• Over the age of 18.
• Writing for television and willing to commit to developing your work through the programme on offer.

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.

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The 2026 Children’s Books North Network Prize is open to illustrators of any nationality or descent who are permanently resident in the North of England.

You will need to send us PDFs of illustrations for three double-page spreads (which can include spot art and vignettes) of your choice for a supplied picture book text (Fabulous Frank by Corrinne Averiss). You may use any medium, but do not include novelty elements or 3D artwork. The full details of formatting and using the provided text are here. Please make sure you read the Award Criteria information carefully.

We are looking for original and outstanding picture book illustrations that demonstrate creativity in visual storytelling for children, strong characterisation, continuity and progression, and show a range of emotion and pace appropriate to the text

There will be one winner of this award and one highly commended entry. The winning illustrator will be offered a financial prize of £2000, and a programme of mentoring opportunities with professionals at the Children’s Book North Network and introductions to publishing professionals. The highly commended entrant will receive £1,000, a programme of mentoring, and feedback on their entry. Please see Award Eligibility for more information. Additionally, the winners will receive access to New Writing North’s programmes of support.

Please make sure to read the guidance for entry and formatting.

• Entrants must submit illustrations for three double page spreads (which can include spot art and vignettes) of their choice for a supplied picture book text by Corrinne Averiss:
  • The full text is split over 12 spreads
  • The text, with suggested page breaks, can be accessed on CBNN Prize website
  • Designed to fit a 245x245mm picture book format (see template allowing for bleed and the gutter)
  • Artwork must be created at 100% size, or up to 30% larger, allowing at least 5mm extra (after reduction) for any images that bleed
  • Finished, full colour artwork
  • Any medium may be used. Illustrations with novelty elements or 3D structures will not be eligible
  • Without any text but allowing space for the text to be designed
  • Must not contain material taken from a third-party or AI
  • Submitted as low-resolution digital PDF, saved as your initials and spread number e.g. WM Spread 1.PDF
  • Supplied with entrant address to verify their location
• Entries must be submitted by the award deadline 26 February 2026
• A longlist of up to twelve and a shortlist of up to six will be selected by the judges
• To be considered, the entries must (in CBNN’s & NWN’s opinion):
  • Include original and outstanding illustrations
  • Demonstrate creativity in visual storytelling for children
  • Demonstrate strong characterisation
  • Demonstrate continuity and progression
  • Show a range of emotion and pace appropriate to the text
  • Sit firmly in the picture book genre
• The judging panel for this award consists of a representative of Children’s Books North Network, alongside two illustrators and a designer
• Children’s Books North Network and New Writing North will make final decisions on eligibility. Our decisions will be final, and no communication will be entered into on the subject
• For more advice and guidance on applications, visit the ​​FAQs

To apply for this award you should be:

• Living in the North of England at the time of entering and planning to remain here for at least another 12 months.
• Over the age of 18.
• Unpublished as an illustrator. For this prize, unpublished means you have never had any illustrations previously published by a publisher in any format (and are not under contract to have your work published). You can have been published as a writer, but not as an illustrator.

Please submit your three spreads by the award deadline of 12pm (midday), 10 March 2026. We will be unable to accept any submissions after this deadline. Please allow at least an hour to complete your submission.

Please do not put your name on your extract. Illustrators will be contacted about their application by 16 June 2026 .

Confirmed judges for the prize include illustrators Lydia Monks and Dapo Adeola, Ness Wood (Orange Beak Studio co-founder) and Emma Layfield (Children’s Books North Network director).

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.

For any enquiries, please read the FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at [email protected]

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The Charlotte Aitken Trust Awards will be awarded to four early career published writers currently living in the North of England. Each winning writer will receive a bursary of £5,000 to support them to develop their work-in-progress. The winners will also receive access to New Writing North’s programme of support. 

These awards are open to writers of fiction, poetry or narrative non-fiction who have had work professionally published, aiming to support writers at a pivotal point in their careers as they develop new work towards publication. There are two awards for fiction and narrative non-fiction, and two awards for poetry. These awards are generously funded by the Charlotte Aitken Trust and managed by New Writing North. 

What is an early career writer?
We recognise that this can vary across forms, but as a guide, this may approximate to having published between one and three full-length works. You are eligible to apply if you have work published in other forms or genres: e.g. a poet who has published two full poetry collections can apply with a novel even if they haven’t published a novel before. Dramatists and screenwriters who have had work professionally produced or commissioned are also eligible to submit a work of fiction, narrative non-fiction or poetry. Self-published writers may enter for these awards. 

How can I use the bursary?
You might use your bursary for mentoring, time to write, research, and/or creative development opportunities such as courses or retreats. For example, you may feel the time is right for you to work with a mentor, or there may be specific research you wish to undertake, or a course or retreat you would like to participate in. You don’t have to have anything confirmed before you submit your application. The successful applicants will receive support and guidance from New Writing North in the planning of using their bursary. 

The Charlotte Aitken Trust Awards will close on 26 February 2026. All applications must be entered via Submittable. 

To enter, writers must submit:

1. A sample of a work-in-progress: 

• For fiction/narrative non-fiction: submit 3000-6000 words and a synopsis of up to 600 words. 
• For short story collections: submit 1-3 short stories totaling 3000-6000 words, and an overview of the collection of up to 600 words.
• For poetry: submit up to 30 poems from your work-in-progress (or, if longer poems, an equivalent amount) and an overview of the collection of up to 600 words

2. Responses to questions about your writing career (250 words), about the progress you have made on your project so far (250 words), and about how you intend to use the bursary (350 words). 

To be eligible to apply, you should be: 

• Living and working in the North of England and planning to remain here for at least another 12 months. 
• Over the age of 18.
• A writer of fiction, poetry and/or creative non-fiction who has published at least one full-length work (such as a novel, poetry collection or memoir); or a poet who has published at least one pamphlet and has published at least four individual poems in magazines, online or in anthologies; or a fiction writer who has published a novella or at least four short stories in magazines and anthologies; or an author of essays or similar non-fiction pieces that have been widely published online and in print. 
• An emerging early career writer. 
• Working towards a new full-length work and have an outline of this writing project. This work does not have to be in the same genre or form as your previous publications. You will be required to submit a writing extract from your work-in-progress. 

Fiction: We accept fiction from any genre, including literary fiction, crime, science fiction, romance and fantasy. You may submit novels and collections of short stories, but not individual short stories. You can include short stories that have been previously published in magazines and anthologies, but these should be acknowledged.  You may submit Young Adult fiction for this award. 

Poetry: This fellowship is to support poets to complete full collections rather than pamphlets. Your application can include poems that have been previously published in magazines and anthologies, but these should be acknowledged. 

Narrative non-fiction: Narrative non-fiction has stylistic and structural similarities to fiction but deals instead with factual or mostly factual subject matter. Work that fits in this category includes biography, memoir, nature writing and non-fiction with a strong literary intent. Works of factual, technical, journalistic and scientific writing, local history, travel writing or translation are not eligible for entry. 

The fiction and narrative non-fiction award will be judged by Irenosen Okojie and Hellie Ogden. The poetry award will be judged by John Glenday. 

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully. 

For any enquiries, please read the FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at [email protected] 

Enter the Charlotte Aitken Trust Awards for Fiction, Narrative Non-Fiction and YA

Enter the Charlotte Aitken Trust Award for Poetry

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.

The Arvon Award will close at 12pm (midday) on 10 March 2026.

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:

• Living in the North of England at the time of entering and planning to remain here for at least another 12 months.
• Over the age of 18.
• Be working towards a full-length work of fiction or narrative non-fiction.

This award will be judged by representatives from Arvon.

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.

For any enquiries, please read the FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at [email protected]

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The Hachette Children’s Novel Awards are open to debut writers of middle-grade children’s fiction and early teen fiction.

We accept all kinds of debut children’s and early teen fiction, including but not limited to, romance, comedy, historical fiction, crime, mystery and fantasy. Please do not submit collections of short stories or individual short stories.

Middle-grade fiction is for children aged approximately 8–11, and teen fiction is for readers aged 11/12+ and excludes high-end or explicit content including swearing, sex and drugs. We do not accept young adult fiction for this award.

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 will be two winners of this award.
The winning writers will be offered a financial prize of £3000 each; and a programme of mentoring opportunities with professionals at Hachette Children’s Group and a children’s publishing agent, including a minimum of 4 professional development sessions in a nine-month period across editorial and design, sales, marketing and publicity and rights. Any reasonable travel expenses will be covered by the publisher. Additionally, the winners will receive access to New Writing North’s programmes of support.

To apply for this award you should be:

• Living in the North of England at the time of entering and planning to remain here for at least another 12 months.
• Over the age of 18.
• A debut author of middle-grade and early teen fiction.

Please submit your initial 3000–6000 words and synopsis by the award deadline of 12pm (midday), 12 January 2026. Submissions cannot be accepted after this deadline. Please allow at least one hour to fill in the forms.

Do not put your name on your extract.

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
For any enquiries, please read the FAQs.
If you still need an answer, contact us at [email protected]

Enter the Hachette Children’s Novel Award

The Eva Ibbotson Award is open to young writers aged 11–15 in the North of England who are writing in English as an additional language. Young writers can submit creative work in any form including prose, poetry, scriptwriting, blogging, songwriting and rap. Entrants must be 15 years or under on 5 February 2026 when the awards close.

There will be one winner. The winner will receive a bespoke package of support created by New Writing North to the value of £500. The package will be tailored to the specific interests and needs of the winner, but could include anything from mentoring with a professional writer, enrolment on a course, books, theatre tickets or a pass to a literature festival.

The Ibbotson prize will include a collection of Pan Macmillan books to the value of £200 to the winning pupil’s school library and a set of Eva’s books to the winner (and any runners up).

The award is made in memory of the writer Eva Ibbotson. Eva Ibbotson’s life was as adventurous as those of the characters she created in her mystical middle-grade stories and sweeping young adult romances.

Born in Vienna in 1925, at nine years old Eva moved to London to join her mother, a successful novelist and playwright, who had fled Vienna in 1933 after her work was banned by the Nazi authorities. Other members of Eva’s family also escaped Vienna and settled in England, and their shared experiences later influenced Eva’s writing, with the themes of home, refugees and immigration running through her books.

Eva wrote more than twenty books for children and won the Smarties Prize for her novel Journey to the River Sea in 2001. She died at her home in Newcastle upon Tyne in 2010, aged eighty-five.

We’re grateful to the Ibbotson family for generously supporting this award.

This award is judged by the family of Eva Ibbotson, New Writing North and a guest judge (to be announced).

Applications for the awards are accepted in two ways:

• by application directly from the young person
• through nomination from an adult working with the young person (for example, parents, teachers or other adults)

Click the button below to apply for or nominate for the awards.

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
For any enquiries, please read the FAQs.
If you still need an answer, contact us at [email protected]

Enter the Eva Ibbotson Award

The Great Northern Read Award has been devised by Johnson & Alcock to offer a fresh and exciting opportunity for emerging writers of gripping, page-turning fiction across all genres, who are looking to take the next step towards publication.

The award is open to unagented and unpublished writers who are currently living in the North of England. We are interested in submissions across the full spectrum of genres, including but not limited to: crime, mystery, historical, romance, fantasy, sci-fi and book club fiction, with an emphasis on immersive storytelling and compelling writing.

Writers will be asked to submit the first 3000-6000 words of their novels in progress and a synopsis. If you are selected for the next stage, you will be asked to submit a complete draft of your novel. Therefore, although you don’t need to have a complete full draft in order to submit, you should be in a position where you will be able to submit a full draft by 31 March (full dates and timeline below).

There will be one winning writer, who will receive:

• £2500 prize money.
• A structured programme of mentoring sessions with representatives from Johnson & Alcock literary agency, who will provide the successful candidate with tailored guidance on manuscript development and career progression.
• Access to New Writing North’s programme of support for writers, which includes membership of the Society of Authors, networking events, one-to-one support from the talent development team, and advisory sessions from publishing professionals.

The award will be assessed by an expert panel of industry readers:

• R.J. Barker, critically acclaimed and award-winning fantasy author of the Wounded Kingdom trilogy.
• Rosanna Forte, Publishing Director at Harper Collins.
• Anna Power, Managing Director of Johnson & Alcock literary agency.

The Great Northern Read Award will close on 5 February 2026 at 12pm.

To apply for this award you should be:

• Living in the North of England at the time of entering and planning to remain here for at least another 12 months.
• Over the age of 18.
• A debut writer who is yet to have published or self-published a full-length work.
• A writer of fiction across all genres.
• Currently unagented.

To enter, writers must submit an extract of their novel-in-progress (3000-6000 words), a synopsis, and answer a set of application questions. All applications must be entered via Submittable. The award deadline is 5 February. We are unable to accept any submissions after this deadline.

Authors longlisted for the award will be notified by 16 March and asked to deliver a complete draft of their manuscript via Submittable by 31 March.

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.

For any enquiries, please read the FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at [email protected]

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