Northern Writers’ Awards Ceremony 2024

Join us online to watch the livestream of the Northern Writers’ Awards 2024. With our hosts Northumbria University, we will be celebrating 25 years of the Northern Writers’ Awards and announcing this year’s winners.

Throughout the evening, we will be looking back over the past 25 years and showcasing some of the writers who have benefitted from England’s biggest writer development programme.

The awards recognise exceptional work-in progress by writers in the North. We have supported more than 400 writers to develop their work towards publication and broadcast, with many going on to critical acclaim.

The evening will conclude with the announcement of the 2024 winners, where we will award some of the region’s most exciting poets, novelists, children’s writers, and authors of narrative non-fiction, many of whom are, as yet, unpublished.

No sign up required, simply click the link above to watch the livestream on the day. However if you would like to sign up for a reminder email about the event, you can do so here.

The Northern Writers’ Awards are produced by New Writing North and supported by Northumbria University, Arts Council England, Hachette Children’s Group, Channel 4, and a range of partners. Find out more about the awards here.

Can you help?

Winning an award can change a person’s life. But it doesn’t start there. It starts with someone believing in them.

Over the last five years, we’ve worked with more than 10,000 children from disadvantaged and culturally diverse backgrounds in our local communities across North East England. Many of them have additional needs or speak English as an additional language. In some areas, 2 in 5 young people live in poverty and the rate of children on Free School Meals is more than double the national average.

Our young writers’ programmes introduce young people to creative writing – including song writing, poetry, rap, scriptwriting, and podcasting. Creative writing projects and activities are led by expert writers and facilitators. Parents and carers, teachers, and children themselves have all pointed to increased confidence, talent and creativity, self-esteem, and school attendance, as a result.

“For many students who might struggle in classes, it is where they understand they can have a voice.” – Teacher, secondary school, Newcastle.

“I finally felt like I could write anything I like. I feel free.” – Pupil, primary school, Gateshead.

And all this, at no cost to the young people or their families.

But we can’t do it alone.

With regular support from people like you, we can help to cover the costs of providing these programmes and activities – and provide new opportunities and life-changing chances. Together, we can help these young people have the tools they need to express emotions, feel empowered, and to shape their own future in our society. To know that they matter. That people believe in them.

Thank you for reading. To donate, please visit: justgiving.com/campaign/youngwriters