Young Northern Writers’ Awards
Our Young Writers’ Awards are presented as part of the Northern Writers’ Awards. They recognise and support young writers based in the North of England.
Young Northern Writers’ Awards
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 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.
The Young Northern Writers’ Awards are open for entries until 12 February 2024.
Matthew Hale Award
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 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.
The Matthew Hale Award is open for entries until 12 February 2024.
Applications for the awards are accepted in two ways:
Nomination from an adult working with the young person (for example, parents, teachers or other adults).
Application directly from the young person.
You can read more about the awards, including submissions guidelines and information on eligibility criteria here.
If you have any questions about either the Young Northern Writer Award or the Matthew Hale Award please contact the NWN Young Writers team on [email protected].
*Please note the North of England is defined as the areas covered by Arts Council England in Yorkshire, North East and North West. We regret we are unable to accept submissions from outside these areas due to conditions in our funding from Arts Council England.
2023 Winners
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Fadi Alali
Young Northern Writer Award
(11-14)
WinnerFadi believes in following ones passion to accomplish things they never imagined they could achieve.
“Winning this award means a lot to me. It’s a testament to my hard work and will drive me to achieve even greater things.”
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Isabel Maria Johnson
Young Northern Writer Award
(15-18)
WinnerIsabel Johnson, who performs and releases music as Isabel Maria, is an emerging young singer-songwriter based in Sunderland. Her song-writing spans various indie pop sub-genres and has received rave reviews through local press and radio coverage. Throughout 2023 so far, Isabel has released several well-received singles and played at countless live gigs across the region with her band, with song-writing being at the core of all these things.
“As both a singer and a songwriter, it’s the hugest honour to be recognised for the writing side of the work I do – it is hugely important to me. Sending a huge thank you to the Northern Writers’ Awards for being so generous!”
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Robert Hall
Matthew Hale Award
WinnerRobert first discovered a love for writing during lockdown, using it as a way of dealing with the indirect repercussions of the situation and a way of processing and coping with the changes to his normal life. Having previously never applied himself fully to his schoolwork, Robert discovered a talent for English Literature and was encouraged by his English teacher to turn his brief musings into longer pieces of work. He is a young carer for his sister, and this guardian element often finds its way into his writing – along with a continued introspection – through the use of allusions.
“I am thrilled to win this award and receive wider recognition for my writing. I feel it could help to give me direction with honing my craft and perhaps explore a career in writing that I hitherto thought was out of reach. I really look forward to finding out where this amazing opportunity may take me.”
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Abby Wilson
Young Northern Writer Award
(11-14)
Highly CommendedAbby Wilson is a student at Excelsior Academy who worked with New Writing North’s Young Writers’ City programme on a songwriting project in 2022. Over the course of ten sessions led by songwriter and rapper Robin Reza, Abby wrote an original song called ‘Somebody Else’, which was submitted to the Young Northern Writers’ Awards and was highly commended.
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Joe Wright
Young Northern Writer Award
(15-18)
Highly CommendedJoe Wright is a poet from County Durham whose work explores the relationships between land, memory, and people in the North Pennines. He will be studying English at university next year, and is mentored by the poet Jo Clement through New Writing North. He was also highly commended in the Foyle Young Poets of the Year 2022 and won the Wells Festival of Literature Young Poets Competition, and hopes someday to publish a pamphlet of poetry.
“Being highly commended in the Young Northern Writers’ Awards is a huge honour, and gives me the confidence to pursue the next steps on my journey as a writer!”
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Hanna Elkaram
Matthew Hale Award
Highly CommendedHanna is a student, aspiring poet, and medic from the North East. Being part of the Libyan diaspora, Hanna has continued to channel this exploration of her identity within her poetry, focusing on the wonders that are readily seen in Libya but also life around the Middle East and North Africa before the Arab Spring. Alongside these themes, Hanna also explores themes of love and life experiences. She hopes that her work comforts those of similar diaspora and similar struggles, but also opens up the world’s eyes to Libya and its beauty.
“I’m extremely grateful to have been highly commended for the Matthew Hale Award. I feel proud and honoured. I believe that this will further boost my confidence in my writing, allowing me to seek out more future opportunities.”
