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This programme will offer a package of support to two writers of fiction or narrative non-fiction and one writer of young adult fiction who are yet to publish a full-length novel or collection of short stories.

The programme has been devised by New Writing North to offer structured developmental support to writers with a work in progress showing potential for publication. Each winner will receive £2000, mentoring and access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Network.

This award is made possible through New Writing North’s partnership with our lead partner Northumbria University.

The Northern Debut Awards will close at 5pm on 12 February 2024.

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.
• A debut author of fiction or narrative non-fiction or an debut author of young adult fiction; you may have published short work in magazines and anthologies.

These awards will be selected by Rachel Mann and Ashley Hickson-Lovence.

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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Winning poets will receive awards of between £2000 and £5000 to support them to develop work in progress and to complete promising collections. These awards are open to applications from both emerging and established poets but poets yet to publish a full-length collection should consider entering the Northern Debut Awards: Poetry.

This award is made possible through New Writing North’s partnership with our lead partner Northumbria University.

Winners will also receive access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Network.

The Northern Writers’ Awards will close at 5pm on 12 February 2024.

To enter poets should submit up to 30 poems or an equivalent amount of longer sequences. Each submission of work must be accompanied by a commentary of up to 600 words that describes the proposed project. 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.
• Working on a full-length collection of poetry. 

This award will be judged by Malika Booker.

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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This programme will offer a package of support to three poets who are yet to publish a full-length collection.

The programme has been devised by New Writing North to offer developmental support to poets with a work in progress showing potential for publication.

Three awards will be made in this category. Each winner will receive £2000, mentoring and access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Network.

This award is made possible through New Writing North’s partnership with our lead partner Northumbria University.

The Northern Debut Awards will close at 5pm on 12 February 2024.

To enter poets should submit up to 30 poems or an equivalent amount of longer sequences. Each submission of work must be accompanied by a commentary that describes the proposed project.

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 poet: you may have published a pamphlet and had individual poems in magazines and anthologies but you should not yet have published a full collection.

This award will be judged by Malika Booker.

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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This award, worth £2000, is open to writers of poetry, fiction and narrative non-fiction who are either final-year students or graduates of Northumbria University who are based in the North of England. Writers can be at any stage in their career.

The award is open to students and graduates from any discipline who are: final-year undergraduates; current postgraduate students; or alumni who have graduated from an undergraduate or postgraduate programme at Northumbria University within the last ten years.

This award is made possible through New Writing North’s partnership with our lead partner Northumbria University.

The Northumbria Student and Alumni Award will close at 5pm on 12 February 2024.

We will accept the following for this award:

• A single standalone piece of work of 3000-6000 words. This can be a short story, poem, short script or a narrative non-fiction essay related to memoir, the arts, health or well-being.

Or

• An extract from a longer work of up to 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.
• A final-year undergraduate; current postgraduate student or alumni who has graduated from an undergraduate or postgraduate programme at Northumbria University within the last ten years.

A shortlist will be selected by Northumbria University staff with the winner chosen by judges Rachel Mann and Ashley Hickson-Lovence.

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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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 on 12 February 2024 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.

This award is made possible through New Writing North’s partnership with our lead partner Northumbria University.

The Young Northern Writers’ Awards will close at 5pm on 12 February 2024.

Applications for the awards are accepted in two ways:

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

This award will be judged by Malika Booker.

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

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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 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 on 12 February 2024 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 winner will receive a 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 one-on-one mentoring with a professional writer, enrolment on a course, books, theatre tickets or a pass to a literature festival.

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

This award is judged by the family of Matthew Hale and New Writing North.

The Matthew Hale Award will close at 5pm on 12 February 2024.

Applications for the awards are accepted in two ways:

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

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

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

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This award is for a single unpublished short story of up to 1500 words. This opportunity is open to new, emerging and established writers. 

The winner of the Finchale Award for Short Fiction will receive £1000 and access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Network. 

The award is named after Finchale Priory, a place of retreat for the monks of Durham during the Middle Ages. We’re grateful to the writer Benjamin Myers, whose generous support has made this unique opportunity possible.  

To enter writers should submit a short story of up to 1500 words and answer the application questions. 

Please note, you may enter this award in addition to one other award. 

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. 

Judges to be announced.

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]

The Sid Chaplin Award is for writers of fiction and narrative non-fiction who identify as originating from a working-class background. 

The winning writer will receive a bursary of £2000; a manuscript appraisal from The Literary Consultancy; advisory sessions from the writer Michael Chaplin; an introduction to the North Agency; and access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Network. 

The award is made in memory of the writer Sid Chaplin (1916–1986) whose novels such as The Day of the Sardine and The Watchers and the Watched are celebrated for their stylistic mastery and their vivid depictions of working-class life in North East England. 

We’re grateful to the Chaplin family, the North Agency and Newcastle University for their support of this award. 

To enter writers should submit a sample of 3000–6000 words and a synopsis and 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.
• Identify as originating from a working-class background. 
• Working on a memoir, novel, young-adult novel, short-story collection or work of literary essays.
• An unpublished, emerging or established writer.

The award will be judged by the representatives of the North Agency, the Chaplin family and Newcastle University, along with a guest writer. 

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]

There is one award available. The winner will be offered the unique chance to work closely with Lime Pictures through a placement on the serial drama Hollyoaks, mentoring support and a bursary worth £3000. 

No writing experience is necessary. For these awards, 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. 

This award will be judged by: Lime Pictures, Channel 4 and New Writing North. A shortlist of candidates will be invited for interview in August/September 2024. 

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 for Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards – Bonafide Films and Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards – Rollem Productions. 

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. 

There is one award available. The winner will be offered the unique chance to work closely with Rollem Productions through a long-term placement, a bursary worth £3000 and mentoring support. The winner will also be given access to the C4/NWN Northern Talent Network. 

No writing experience is necessary. For these awards, 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. 

This award will be judged by: Rollem Productions, Channel 4 and New Writing North. A shortlist of candidates will be invited for interview in August/September 2024. 

To enter writers should submit a pitch of an idea for an original storyline (up to 400 words) and a sample script of no more than ten pages. Please also answer the application questions. Writers who enter this award may also enter for Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards – Bonafide Films and Channel 4 Writing for Televison Awards – Lime Pictures. 

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.  

For this award, we welcome entries from people who may have faced barriers to seeing their work progress for financial reasons or issues connected to disability, ethnicity and/or sexuality. For more information, see TLC’s website. 

In conjunction with The Literary Consultancy we are offering up to three poets, prose writers and children’s writers the chance to receive an in-depth editorial report on their work in progress. You must be working towards a full-length work (e.g. a novel, work of creative non-fiction, poetry collection or short-story collection). Although your manuscript does not have to be complete, you must be in a position to submit the manuscript for assessment before the end of February 2025. Unpublished and previously published writers may enter work in this category. 

In addition to the Free Read, writers will receive access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Network.

To enter writers should submit and extract of between 3000 and 6000 words and a synopsis of up to 600 words. Please answer the application questions. Please note, you may enter this award in addition to one other award. 

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, narrative non-fiction or poetry.

Former winners: please note that if you win another Northern Writers’ Award in 2024 you are not eligible to enter this award.

This award will be assessed internally by New Writing North. 

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 Prototype Development Programme is a new scheme from Prototype Publishing, offering extended support and career development to eight emerging writers and artists. It runs alongside the recently established Prototype Prize. We have partnered with the programme to offer three of these spaces to writers based in the North of England.

The programme is open to writers and artists who have not yet had a book published, and are at a formative stage in their careers. We are especially keen to reach writers from underrepresented backgrounds, and we encourage applications from global majority, working-class, disabled, LGBTQ+ and other communities that have been historically underrepresented in UK publishing. Prototype will offer an extended and focused period of support to emerging writers who might not have the opportunity to access such creative and career development.

Prototype’s six-month programme will offer remote learning and personal development through a series of group workshops and feedback sessions, alongside a programme of five seminars led by different pairings of curators, writers, publishers, editors, and literary agents, all carried out online, making them widely accessible.

Participants will also receive a bursary of £500 from Prototype and will have their work published in issue 6 of the annual PROTOTYPE anthology.

All applicants will be asked to submit the following information:

• A summary outlining why you are interested in the programme, how you hope to benefit from it, and details of any specific projects you would like to develop throughout the duration of the programme.
• A brief outline of your experience to date. Please note that you do not have to have had any work published or exhibited before.
• A sample of work of up to 20 pages, in PDF format. This may be poetry, fiction, non-fiction or visual work.
• An equal opportunities monitoring form.

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