Northern Writers’ Awards 2025 open for entries
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The largest and longest-running writer development programme in England is now open for entries. Founded and produced by New Writing North with support from Northumbria University and Arts Council England, the Northern Writers’ Awards are now in their 26th year.
The suite of awards covers a range of genres including poetry, fiction, narrative non-fiction, young adult, middle-grade fiction and short stories.
The Northern Writers’ Awards deliver crucial support for writers at an earlier stage than most literary awards, usually before an agent or publisher is involved. As such, they have an enviable track record for identifying some of the country’s best unpublished writing, providing a pipeline of new talent to the publishing and broadcast industries. Previous winners include Mari Hannah, Tawseef Khan, Gráinne O’Hare, Katie Hale, Kit Fan, Benjamin Myers, Okechukwu Nzelu, Andrew McMillan, Helen Mort, Sharma Walfall and Hannah Hodgson.
The winners of the Northern Writers’ Awards receive a wide range of support and opportunities, including mentoring, manuscript assessment, writing placements, and cash awards to buy time to write.
Judges for the 2025 awards include Kathleen Jamie, Tice Cin, Kit Fan and Sandra Sawicka.
The following Northern Writers’ Awards, made possible through New Writing North’s partnership with its lead award partner Northumbria University, are now open until 6 February 2025:
- Northern Writers’ Awards
Cash prizes of up to £5000 to support writers of fiction, narrative non-fiction, YA, graphic novels, short stories and poetry. - Northern Debut Awards
Structured developmental support to writers of fiction, young adult fiction, narrative non-fiction or poetry who are yet to publish a full-length work. The package of support includes a £2000 bursary and mentoring. - Northumbria University Student and Alumni Award
Worth £2000, for a single standalone piece of fiction, narrative non-fiction or poetry, or an extract of a longer work, is open to final-year students and recent graduates of Northumbria University in any discipline. - Young Northern Writers’ Awards
Recognises young writers aged 11-14 and 15-18 whose work shows exceptional promise. Each writer will be awarded £150. Up to two writers may also be highly commended across the age categories. - Matthew Hale Award
Open to young writers aged 11-18 who show promise but have had limited opportunities to pursue their talent. This award is funded by the Hale family and consists of a package of support created by New Writing North, worth £500. - Eva Ibbotson Award
Open to young writers aged 11-15 who are writing in English as an additional language. This award is funded by the Ibbotson family and consists of a package of support created by New Writing North, worth £500.
Also, currently open for entries is the Hachette Children’s Novel Awards, for debut writers of middle-grade children’s fiction and early teen fiction. The submission deadline is 13 January 2025, with two winners receiving £3000 cash prize and a programme of mentoring opportunities within Hachette Children’s Group and New Writing North.
Further award submission windows will open in 2025, including the Tempest Prize, the Finchale Award for Short Fiction, the Arvon Award, the Northern Promise TLC Awards, and the Sid Chaplin Award.