Judges

Paul Smith is best known as the singer for the Newcastle-based art-rock group Maxïmo Park, who released their latest album, Stream Of Life in September 2024. He has released three acclaimed solo albums and collaborated with the likes of Rachel Unthank, Tricky, and Field Music’s Peter Brewis. Crossing over into the literary world, Paul has also hosted the Penguin Books podcast and worked with poets Lavinia Greenlaw and Tom Pickard. 

“It’s an honour to be asked to judge the Finchale Award. As a songwriter, words are central to my practice, so I’m really looking forward to reading the submissions.”

Photo credit: Kuba Ryniewicz

Preti Taneja is a writer and activist. Her first novel, We That Are Young, won the Desmond Elliott Prize and was listed for awards including the Folio Prize and the Prix Jan Michalski. It has been translated into several languages. Her second book Aftermath, a lament on the language of prison, terror, trauma and grief, won the Gordon Burn Prize in 2022. Taneja is Professor of World Literature and Creative Writing at Newcastle University. She is a contributing editor at And Other Stories, and at The White Review. 

Photo credit: Ben Gold

Nasim Rebecca Asl is a Glasgow-based poet and journalist from Tyne and Wear. Her poetry has appeared in magazines including Poetry Wales, Gutter and Modern Poetry in Translation. In 2021 she was awarded a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award for Poetry, and in 2022 was shortlisted for the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award. She’s worked on projects with the Poetry Translation Centre, The Poetry Business and the Rugby League World Cup.  

Dr Okechukwu Nzelu FRSL won a Northern Writers’ Award from New Writing North in 2015. His debut novel, The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney (Dialogue Books, 2019), won a Betty Trask Award; it was also shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Polari First Book Prize, and longlisted for the Portico Prize. In 2021, it was selected for the Kingston University Big Read and distributed to all staff and students at three universities. His second novel, Here Again Now (Dialogue Books, 2022) was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Encore Award, the Polari Prize, the Jhalak Prize and the Diverse Book Awards. In 2024 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. 

Photo credit: Alex Douglas

Malya Bhattacharya is a writer and researcher interested in storytelling, history, and multilingual creativity. She is currently involved in an oral history film project working with South Asian women in the West End, exploring memory, migration, and identity through their stories. Her own creative work often engages with themes of language, belonging, and the intersections of personal and collective histories.

“As a judge for the Eva Ibbotson Prize, I am excited to read work that plays with language in inventive and unexpected ways. I believe that language is borderless and so, it carries the weight of our experiences, histories, and imaginations. I’m particularly drawn to writing that reflects this dynamic relationship with language and reflects the diverse ways we think, feel, and communicate. I look forward to discovering pieces that challenge traditional storytelling, celebrate linguistic hybridity, and give us fresh ways to see the world.”

Sandra Sawicka joined the Marjacq agency in 2014. Her main interest is genre fiction – from horror (Alex North, Matt Wesolowski), through gothic (Syd Moore, Olivia Isaac-Henry), to crime (Niki Mackay, Kat Diamond) to YA (Amy McCaw, Rose Edwards). She enjoys all things atmospheric, spooky and occult.

“I’m delighted to be one of this year’s judges for New Writing North – I can’t wait to see what talent we are going to discover.”

Kit Fan‘s first novel is Diamond Hill. This third poetry collection The Ink Cloud Reader was shortlisted for the Forward Prize and T.S. Eliot Prize. He reviews regularly for the Guardian and TLS. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Vice-Chair of Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS). He was born and educated in Hong Kong and now lives in the UK.

“I’m thrilled to join the judging panel for 2025 Northern Writers’ Awards. My first novel wouldn’t have seen the light of day without getting a Northern Writers’ Award for Fiction in 2018. I look forward to reading well-crafted narratives with vivid characters caught up in the beauty and chaos of our times.”

Tice Cin is an interdisciplinary artist from North London. Keeping the House has been named one of Guardian’s Best Books of 2021, and has been featured in The Scotsman, The New York Times and the Washington Post. She is a recent recipient of a Society of Authors Somerset Maugham Prize, and was shortlisted for Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. A filmmaker, she is currently writing and co-directing three short films. She has just produced, self-funded and directed her first and second short films.

“It feels a wonderful full circle moment to be on the judging panel for the 2025 Northern Writers’ Award. It’s an honour to be working with New Writing North on the Northern Writers’ Awards, whose team have supported me with my own career for many years. The level of support that this will afford to writers in the North of England, who are often siloed by the matrix of the English publishing ecosystem, continues to be a much needed light in an alley. It was through a writers development programme such as this that I was able to have my debut novel read by people who were truly able to take the time with what it was that I’d written, and that’s what I’d like to do when judging this time around, to really take time and take in the work of new work-in-progress with thoughtfulness and patience. I’ll be looking for work that is both interested in the microscopic nuances in a moment and global care, narratives that don’t shy away from viscerally engaging the reader and think deeply about mood.”

image © Eric Aydin-Barberini

Kathleen Jamie’s poetry collections include The Overhaul, which won the 2012 Costa Poetry Prize, and The Tree House, which won the Forward prize. Her non-fiction includes the highly regarded Findings trilogy (Findings, Sightlines, and Surfacing), all regarded as important contributions to the ‘new nature writing’. The Bonniest Companie appeared in 2015, and won the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award.

The Keeliehawk – Poems in Scots appeared in 2024. From 2021-24, Kathleen served as Scotland’s Makar, or National Poet.

“It’s always exciting, and challenging, to see new writers emerge. I’m greatly looking forward to co-judging this award, and would urge all emergent poets in the North of England to apply.”

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

Her other works include the pamphlets Hinge and Faces that Fled the Wind, and the collaborative essay Second Memory, which was co-authored with Pratyusha.

Alycia is the co-founder of the Scottish BPOC Writers Network, a co-organiser of the Ledbury Poetry Critics Program.

‘I was so pleased to be asked to be a judge for the Hachette Children’s Novel Award and look forward to delving into all the wonderful stories in 2025.‘

Clare Weze won a Northern Writers’ Award in 2016 and is the author of CILIP Carnegie-nominated The Lightning Catcher, and The Storm Swimmer, which was shortlisted for numerous Schools Library Service awards in 2024. Her other books for children include Rollo’s Choice and The Violet Sea Snail, and she is a co-author of Happy Here. Her short fiction for adults has appeared in Best Microfiction 2019, The Conglomerate, Riptide, The Lascaux Review and elsewhere. She grew up between London and Yorkshire, has British and Nigerian heritage, and her background is in environmental and biological sciences.

“I’m honoured to be on the judging panel for the Hachette Children’s Novel Award. Without my own Northern Writers’ Award, my journey to publication would have been longer and harder. I’m excited to read the submissions, and I’ll be looking for memorable and compelling voices that stir and surprise me.”

‘I’m so looking forward to championing children’s stories by northern writers on the judging panel for the 2025 Hachette Children’s Novel Award, in partnership with New Writing North. This award provides a great opportunity for northern writers to develop their works in progress with an established publishing house, making it one that is very close to my heart. I’d love to take this opportunity to encourage writers from all backgrounds to apply. You never know where it might lead!’

Born and bred in West Yorkshire, Georgina is Editor at Hachette Children’s Group, where she works across young, middle-grade and YA fiction, with authors including Alexandra Bracken, Chris Colfer, Andy Riley and Daniel Tawse. Before joining the publishing world, Georgina spent five years at Waterstones; first as a bookseller in their Leeds branch, then as Children’s Category Support in Head Office and a judge for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.

As a northerner, I know the talent that the north of England has to offer, so I am excited to be a judge for the Hachette Children’s Novel Award, supporting that very talent 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.

Richard Drake is the co-founder and co-owner of DRAKE – The Bookshop, an award-winning independent bookstore located in Stockton-on-Tees, in the heart of the North East of England. A former teacher with 15 years of experience across Northumberland, Redcar, and Cleveland, Richard combines his educational background with a deep passion for books and community engagement. Alongside his partner Melanie, their vision for the shop focuses on creating an inclusive and welcoming space that promotes literacy and the joy of reading for all ages.

Since opening in 2015 the bookshop has grown significantly, now housed in a larger, vibrant premises with an extra, large space for children’s books. The shop champions an eclectic range of books, including children’s literature, fiction, non-fiction, and dyslexia-friendly titles, along with showcasing local authors.

I am really pleased, honoured and excited to be on the panel for this year’s Hachette Children’s Novel Award. Having been fortunate enough to get to know a number of the winners of the award who are local to our bookshop I know how important it is for the children in our area to be able to see that books can be written by people just like them. I can’t wait to find out what the next title we will be able to get behind is going to be!

As Licensing Manager for Hachette Children’s Group, Sarah 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.

‘The Hachette Children’s Novel Award, in partnership with New Writing North, is an amazing opportunity to discover emerging and underrepresented talent in the North of England. I’m especially excited to read stories that will both resonate with readers and have the potential to make the leap from page to screen or stage.’