Judges

Hellie Ogden joined WME’s London office as co-head of the UK Book division in 2023. She represents fiction, children’s books and non-fiction and enjoys bold storytelling, moving prose and vivid, thought-provoking characters. She is actively taking on new clients and as an editorially focused agent, she has a keen interest in helping to develop and nurture debut writers.

Hellie was shortlisted for Agent of the Year at the British Book Awards 2025. She represents a number of global bestsellers and award-winning writers including Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Samuel Burr, Fran Littlewood, Sharna Jackson, M.J. Arlidge and Jessa Hastings. She often speaks at writing conferences and mentors debut writers.

“I’m thrilled to be judging these awards. I’m looking forward to reading the next big thing, and championing a range of debut authors.”
Hellie Ogden

Irenosen Okojie is a Nigerian British author whose work pushes the boundaries of form, language and ideas. Her novel, Butterfly Fish, and short story collections, Speak Gigantular and Nudibranch, have won and been nominated for multiple awards.

Her journalism has been featured in The New York Times, the Observer, the Guardian and the Huffington Post. She is a Contributing Editor for The White Review as well as And Other Stories. She co-presented the BBC’s Turn Up for The Books podcast, alongside Simon Savidge and Bastille frontman Dan Smith. Her work has been optioned for the screen.

She has also judged various literary prizes including the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Gordon Burn Prize, the BBC National Short Story Award and the Dublin Literary Award. She was a judge for the 2023 Women’s Prize for Fiction. Formerly the Vice Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, she was awarded an MBE For Services to Literature in 2021.

She is the director and founder of Black to the Future Festival. Her new novel, Curandera, is published by Dialogue Books and Soft Skull Press in the US. It was longlisted for the Ondaatje Prize.

“The Northern Writers’ Award is a brilliant platform for writers based in the north of England, providing a vital pathway for these voices into the industry. It’s a privilege to be a judge. I’m looking forward to discovering some exciting voices and reading the range of manuscripts submitted.”
Irenosen Okojie MBE FRSL

Jake Arnott is the author of nine novels. His bestselling debut The Long Firm was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was adapted as a BAFTA award-winning BBC TV drama series. His second novel, He Kills Coppers was made into a critically acclaimed ITV1 series, and along with his third book, truecrime, formed a trilogy that was awarded the Crime Writers Association Dagger in the Library. Subsequent works include Johnny Come Home, The Devil’s Paintbrush, The House of Rumour, The Fatal Tree and Blood Rival. His forthcoming novel Netherwood will be published in August 2026. He reviews fiction for The Guardian and wrote the highly acclaimed BBC Radio 3 drama The Visa Affair.

“I’m excited and honoured to be a judge on the Finchale Award for Short Fiction. The short story is such a wonderful form, one that I’ve always found challenging as a writer and deeply inspiring as a reader. It allows for such diversity within its sublime limits, so I’m looking forward to hearing new voices and being transported into broad and intimate spaces.”

One of the UK’s best-loved actors, Maxine’s film credits include Peterloo, The Theory of Everything, Funny Cow and Fanny Lye Deliver’d. More recently, she has featured in Dance First and in Scottish drama film I Swear. She is also well known for starring in TV dramas and has received three BAFTA Best Actress nominations, for Hancock & Joan, The Village, and Anne. Maxine is also an established writer, with credits including the stage and radio play Beryl (BBC Radio 4/West Yorkshire Playhouse/The Rose Theatre), Queens of the Coal Age (Radio 4/Royal Exchange), The Last Testament of Lillian Bilocca (Hull Truck Theatre) and Betty! (Royal Exchange).

“I’m hoping to find exciting new voices traversing exciting new worlds full of creative freedom.”

Stu Hennigan is a writer, poet and musician from the north of England. His non-fiction work Ghost Signs, published by Bluemoose, was shortlisted for two national literary prizes including Best Political Book By A Non-Parliamentarian at the Parliamentary Book Awards in 2023. His debut novel, Keshed, was published in February by Ortac Press; his next book Disappear Here, a landmark sociocultural history of the USA from the late-60’s to the present, analysed through the fiction of Bret Easton Ellis, is forthcoming in 2027, also with Ortac. His short fiction, essays, journalism, criticism and poetry have been published by Broken Sleep Books, Prospect, 3:AM, Visual Verse, Lune Journal, Expat and many others. He also plays guitar in the rock band Kamień.

“I’m delighted to be given the opportunity to judge these awards and help to uncover, develop and support fresh, diverse literary voices in the north. I’m hoping to read pieces that transcend the restrictive boundaries of class and location, reductive labels which all too often are used to limit the scope, ambition and subject matter of the work writers from this part of the country are expected to produce, and can adversely affect what they themselves think they are capable of achieving.“

Alycia Pirmohamed is a Canadian-born poet based in Scotland. In 2023, she won the Nan Shepherd Prize for her nonfiction debut Shorelines, forthcoming with Canongate in 2026. She is the author of the poetry collection Another Way to Split Water.

She is part of ‘field notes collective’, a nature writing project alongside Jessica J. Lee, Nina Mingya Powles and Pratyusha. this too is a glistening, their collaborative pamphlet, was published by Bitter Melon 苦瓜 in 2024. Her other works include the pamphlets Hinge and Faces that Fled the Wind, and Second Memory, which was co-authored with Pratyusha.

John Glenday is the author of four collections. The Apple Ghost (Peterloo Poets, 1989) won a Scottish Arts Council Book Award; Undark (Peterloo Poets, 1995) was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation; and Grain (Picador, 2010) was shortlisted for both the Ted Hughes Award and the Griffin International Poetry Prize. His most recent collection, The Golden Mean (Picador, 2015), was shortlisted for the Saltire Scottish Poetry Book of the Year and won the 2016 Roehampton Poetry Prize. His Selected Poems was published by Picador in 2020. He currently runs a weekly ‘walking and writing’ workshop for men with mental health issues.

“I’m delighted to have been asked to judge these awards, which encourage and celebrate the richness of writing talent in the North of England by supporting poets at every stage in their development.

I’ll be looking out for work which shows insight, skill and promise; poems which remind me what the language is capable of; poems which remind me what it means to be human.”
John Glenday

Anna Power is the Managing Director of Johnson & Alcock, a leading independent literary agency now in its 70th year. Authors represented by the agency include Cara Hunter, Sarah Pearse, Natalie Fergie, Robert Thorogood, C.K. McDonnell and Balli Kaur Jaswal. Anna has been a primary agent for over 20 years and loves nothing more than discovering and working with emerging talent alongside her list of established authors. She’s drawn to immersive storytelling across a range of genres including crime, romance, speculative, reading group and historical fiction.

RJ Barker is a critically acclaimed and award-winning author of fantasy fiction. His debut epic fantasy series the Wounded Kingdom trilogy was nominated for the David Gemmel Award, the Kitschie Golden Tentacle, The Compton Crook and the BFS Best Debut and Best Novel awards. The Bone Ships, his first novel in the Tide Child trilogy won the British Fantasy Society (BFS) Robert Holdstock award in 2020. More recently, his series The Forsaken Trilogy set within the bounds of a forest straight out of darkest folklore was published by Orbit. RJ lives in Leeds with his wife, son and a collection of questionable taxidermy.

Rosanna Forte recently joined HarperCollins as Publishing Director in order to launch Fontana, an imprint dedicated to publishing stylishly written fiction with broad appeal: from classic-feeling spy stories to original crime fiction to rich and immersive historical and literary-fantasy novels. Prior to this she was Editorial Director at Little, Brown UK, where she had the privilege of publishing Sunday Times, Irish Times, Audible and Kindle bestsellers, and Richard and Judy Book Club picks. She began her editorial career at Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Georgina Mitchell worked at Waterstones for five years, both in-store and in head office, before joining Hachette Children’s Group in 2021. She has published a variety of middle-grade and young adult fiction, including authors such as Alex T. Smith, CG Drews, Erik J. Brown and Michelle Jabès Corpora and is a judge for the Hachette Children’s Novel Award. She re-located to Hachette’s Sheffield office last year and is keen to support all of the talent the North has to offer.

“I am delighted to be judging the Hachette Children’s Novel Award again this year. As a Northerner myself, I am passionate about supporting northern writers and encouraging diversity in children’s publishing. Every child should be able to see themselves in the books they read, and every author should have the chance to tell their story.”
Georgina Mitchell

Sallyanne Sweeney joined the International Creative Agency (ICA) in 2013 and has since built a list that spans fiction, non-fiction and illustration, across children’s and adult publishing.

Originally from Dublin, she studied English at Trinity College before completing an MPhil in American Literature at Queens’ College, Cambridge. Her clients include Sunday Times and Irish Times bestsellers, and their work has been recognised with major honours including the British Book Awards, Irish Book Awards, Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Awards, and the YA Book Prize. Known for her close editorial work, Sallyanne has a particular gift for guiding debut writers into long-term careers, while also supporting established voices to reach new audiences.

Sallyanne is always drawn to projects that combine creative ambition with broad readership appeal and her taste ranges from the literary to the commercial, with a focus on distinctive voices, strong storytelling, and fresh perspectives.

Beyond her client list, Sallyanne is an active presence in the publishing community. She served as Chair of the Children’s Agents’ Circle from 2014 to 2018 and is a regular speaker at literary festivals and industry events, where she shares her expertise on author development and the evolving publishing landscape.

“New Writing North do incredible work in nurturing and showcasing talent in the North of England. I’m honoured and thrilled to be part of discovering the stars of the future in the Hachette Children’s Novel Award, and can’t wait to get reading.”
Sallyanne Sweeney

As Head of Licensing for Hachette Children’s Group, Sarah Lennon Galavan works across film/TV, stage, merchandise and audio/digital rights. She began her career in film and TV, working as a production and development assistant, and then as a freelance script reader for production companies. In her role at Hachette, she is always looking for stories that can translate brilliantly into another medium.

“I’m delighted to be returning as a judge for the Hachette Children’s Novel Award. It’s so important to have a range of voices and experiences represented in our books as well as our stages and screens, and I greatly admire New Writing North’s work in supporting and engaging emerging talent in the North of England. I’m looking forward to reading all the fantastic submissions!”
Sarah Lennon Galavan

Yassmin Abdel-Magied has published five books, most recently Stand Up and Speak Out Against Racism (Walker, 2023), named a Best Book of 2023 by School Library Journal and longlisted for the 2025 UKLA Book Award and 2024 SLA Information Book Award. Her previous books include the essay collection Talking About a Revolution (PRH, 2022) and two novels for younger readers, You Must Be Layla (Puffin, 2019) and Listen, Layla (Puffin, 2021).

Listen, Layla was longlisted for Book of the Year by the Children’s Book Council of Australia, and named a 2022 Honor Book for Children’s Africana Book of the Year by the Center for African Studies at Howard University in the US. Her TED Talk on bias has been viewed over 2.7m times. Sudanese by birth, raised in Australia, Yassmin now lives in London.

“Finding and being able to support new writers is one of my favourite things to do! I grew up in a regional city, far from the ‘cultural centre’, so I appreciate how important such an opportunity can be. I cannot wait to get into the submissions and be a part of changing someone’s life!”
Yassmin Abdel-Magied

Dapo Adeola, an award-winning illustrator and designer, creates characters and images that challenge expectations around race and gender in a fun and upbeat way. He is the co-creator and illustrator of bestselling picture book Look Up! – winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the number one debut picture book of 2019.

Emma Layfield is a children’s literary agent with 25 years of children’s publishing experience. She worked at Hachette Children’s Group as Group Picture Book Publisher where she commissioned the bestselling Oi Frog! series by Kes Gray & Jim Field and launched Steve Antony’s career with the international hit Please Mr Panda. In 2024, Emma launched Children’s Books North Agency based in Manchester to represent Northern and Scottish writers and illustrators. Emma is also Co-founder of Children’s Books North Network.

Lydia Monks is a bestselling illustrator and author of children’s books. Among them are her many collaborations with author Julia Donaldson, including The Singing Mermaid, Princess Mirror-Belle and the What the Ladybird Heard series, which has sold over 4 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 25 different languages. Lydia has won many awards including, the Smarties Award, the Royal Mail Scottish Children’s Book Award, the Stockport Children’s Book Award, Nielsen Gold Bestseller Award, the Big Red Book Award, the Pan Mac Award and the IBBY Award for Illustration. She lives in Sheffield.

An award-winning art director and designer, Ness Wood works for several publishers designing children’s books across all ages. She has been a judge on the Bologna Ragazzi Award and her teaching experience includes running the publishing module at Goldsmiths and UCLAN and the CSA Summer School (2014-20). Ness’s recent book designs include Grandad’s Star (2025 Klaus Flugge shortlisted), There’s a Tiger on the Train (2025 Oscar’s Prize shortlisted) and You’re So Amazing (2024 Inclusive Books winner). Ness is known for her encouraging, straightforward approach. She is a co-founder of Orange Beak Studio with Maisie Paradise Shearring.