Winners 2020

Rebecca Muddiman

Rebecca Muddiman is a novelist and scriptwriter, based in Redcar. She won a Time to Write Award in 2010, as well as the Northern Crime Competition in 2012 for her first novel, Stolen, which was published by Moth in 2013. It was followed by three more books in the same series, Gone (2015), Tell Me Lies (2016) and Murder in Slow Motion (2018) and two standalone psychological thrillers, No Place Like Home (2018) and The Art of Murder (2019).

In 2016 she was selected for the London Screenwriters Festival Talent Campus with a screenplay about Heloise and Abelard, which she subsequently adapted into a novel called Devotion. In 2019 she was selected for Live Theatre’s Playwriting course with a play called 99 which was the starting point for her novel-in-progress, Rebel Girl. She has also been published in The Guardian, Simple Things, Vintage Script and the anthologies Home Tomorrow and She’s the One. Before writing full-time, she worked for the NHS for eleven years.

Rebecca Muddiman

Ruqaya Izzidien

Ruqaya Izzidien is an Iraqi-Welsh writer and graduate of Durham University. Her debut novel, The Watermelon Boys, is set in WW1 Baghdad and spans the Arab revolt against the British. It was released in 2018 and received a Betty Trask Award for first-time novelists under 35. In 2020, she served as the London Book Fair’s writer-in-residence in Sharjah. As a journalist, her work has appeared in the New York Times, Al Jazeera, the New Statesman, The New Arab, The National, and the BBC. She runs the blog, Muslim Impossible, which reviews stereotypical, racist and prejudiced depictions of Arabs and Muslims in television, film and literature.

“This award will go a long way in helping me to realise my current writing projects. It’s an honour to receive a Northern Writers’ Award, but it also means a great deal to me personally to witness awarding bodies recognising, supporting, and amplifying own voices in literature.”

Susan Barker

Susan Barker is the author of three novels. Her most recent book, The Incarnations (2014), was a New York Times Notable Book, a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize winner and shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize.

The support of a Northern Writers’ Award is hugely encouraging and uplifting to me. I’ve been writing my current novel for an inexcusably long time now – and while I absolutely love writing fiction, and count myself lucky to do so, in the solitary, years-long endeavour there are definite moments of doubt. To have a nod from the Northern Writers’ Awards’ judges, as well as the financial support, really means a lot.

Fokkina McDonnell

Fokkina McDonnell is Dutch-born and has lived in the UK for most of her adult life. Following a career as an Occupational Psychologist and Psychotherapist, she closed her Manchester practice to focus on her writing.

Her poems have been widely anthologised, published online and in magazines, including The North, Magma, The Frogmore Papers, Mslexia, Orbis, Strix, erbacce, The Journal and Poetry News. Poems have also been commended or placed in competitions, such as Ver Poets, Poetry on the Lake, Ambit, Magma, Barnet, Manchester Cathedral. Fokkina was awarded the Sonnet Prize in the 2012 Ware Poets Open Poetry competition. Her poem ‘Partial view of a loch’ was nominated for the 2019 Forward Prize for best single poem.

Fokkina has two poetry collections: Another life with Oversteps Books Ltd (2016) and Nothing serious, nothing dangerous with Indigo Dreams Publishing Ltd (2019). Her pamphlet, A Stolen Hour, was published by Gren Hen Press in spring 2020.

She has a special interest in haiku and tanka, and the collaborative writing process of renku. Fokkina blogs weekly on www.acaciapublications.co.uk where she also features other poets.

“This is a huge vote of confidence for a challenging project.”

Polly Atkin

Polly Atkin lives Cumbria. Her first poetry collection Basic Nest Architecture (Seren: 2017) was followed by a third pamphlet, With Invisible Rain (New Walk Press: 2018), which draws on Dorothy Wordsworth’s late journals to explore ways to express pain. Her first pamphlet bone song (Aussteiger, 2008) was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Pamphlet Award, 2009, and second, Shadow Dispatches (Seren, 2013), won the Mslexia Pamphlet Prize, 2012. She has taught English and Creative Writing at QMUL, Lancaster University, and the Universities of Strathclyde and Cumbria. She is working on a non-fiction book reflecting on place, belonging and chronic illness. An extract from this, ‘Swimming against the Nature Cure’, focused on outdoor swimming and disability, was published in March 2020 in Ache magazine. In 2019 she co-founded the Open Mountain initiative at Kendal Mountain Festival with Kate Davis and Anita Sethi, which seeks to centre voices that are currently at the margins of outdoor, mountain and nature writing.

Winning a Northern Writers’ Award would never not be a great boost to both morale and finances, but this year it feels like a life-saver. I had to keep re-reading the email to check it was real. Like many freelance writers, I lost most of paid work for the year in March. Like many disabled and chronically ill writers, I’m facing a long period of uncertainty, knowing it may not be save to resume face-to-face work for many months to come. This award not only offers creative encouragement when I really need it, but financial support which will make continuing to create possible. It has saved my year.

Suzannah V. Evans

Suzannah V. Evans has published poems in PN Review, The London Magazine, Magma, Eborakon, and elsewhere, with others broadcast on BBC Radio Bristol and awarded the 2020 Ivan Juritz Prize for Creative Experiment. She has read her work at Keats House, London, where she organised Keats House: New Poets, for York Literature Festival and StAnza Poetry Festival, and at Underfall boatyard in Bristol, where she was poet in residence in 2019. She edited reviews for The Compass between 2017-2020 and is a doctoral researcher at Durham University, supported by the AHRC. Her debut double-pamphlet Marine Objects / Some Language was published with Guillemot Press in April 2020.

“I’m so grateful and overwhelmed to have won a Northern Writers’ Award. The award is meaningful in many ways – not only is it a huge confidence boost, but it feels like I’ve been given the enthusiastic backing of my writing community to develop and delve into my work. I’ve had the idea of writing a full-length poetry collection at the back of my mind for some time: this award makes that possibility seem much more real, and will furnish me with time to refine my current manuscript for a pamphlet and to write new poems for my first collection.”

Jennifer Lee Tsai

Jennifer Lee Tsai is a poet, editor and critic. She was born in Bebington and grew up in Liverpool. Jennifer is a fellow of The Complete Works III and a Ledbury Poetry Critic. Her work has been published in the Bloodaxe anthology Ten: Poets of the New Generation (2017) and her debut poetry pamphlet Kismet was published by ignitionpress in 2019. Jennifer is a Contributing Editor to Ambit. In 2019, she was awarded an AHRC scholarship to undertake doctoral research in Creative Writing at the University of Liverpool.

“I’m overjoyed to have won a Northern Writers’ Award for Poetry; it will provide valuable support in working towards my first full-length collection, especially at this current time. Thank you so much to New Writing North and the judge Vahni Capildeo.”

Hannah Hodgson

Hannah Hodgson is a poet living with life limiting illness. Her work has been published by BBC Arts, The Poetry Society and Magma, amongst other outlets. She is a 2021 winner of the Poetry Business New Poets Prize and a 2020 Northern Writers Award for Poetry. She also received a prestigious Diana Legacy Award (given in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales) in 2021; only 20 are given worldwide every 2 years for Humanitarian and Social Action Work. Hannah has published three pamphlets, Dear Body (Wayleave Press, 2018) and Where I’d Watch Plastic Trees Not Grow (Verve, 2021) and Queen of Hearts (Poetry Business, 2022). Her first full collection, 163 Days, was published by Seren in March 2022. Proving to be a busy year, she has a further pamphlet ‘I always Fall in Love Inside Hospitals’ due from Broken Sleep Books in September. You can find more of her stuff here: @HodgsonWrites, hannahhodgson.com

I am absolutely flabbergasted to receive this award, from the wonderful New Writing North. Times are tough for all of those working within the arts, but especially for those who are disabled or belonging to other marginalised groups. As a disabled woman working today, the poetic is political, I often write about matters of life and death. When we look at Covid deaths, 60% have been disabled people. It’s good to know that, although oftentimes a very lonely pursuit, my work whilst navigating tough subjects still stands out for the form it is, the skill of writing poetry. I want to thank both Helen Mort for judging this prize, and New Writing North for funding it. It will give me something which is a rare but intangible resource: time to work on my poems, and also belief in each of my poems as a piece of art.

Hannah Durkan

Hannah Durkan spent her childhood in Warwickshire reading, snail collecting, car-picnicking, story writing, overthinking and covering her parent’s carpet in paint. She moved to Yorkshire for university in 2004 and never left. After studying medicine and gaining a PGCE from the University of Leeds, Hannah now lives in Leeds with her husband and young daughter, who has finally given her a legitimate excuse for her enormous collection of children’s books. When she’s not working in a local primary school, she can be found drinking coffee, writing stories, drawing space whales and making dens. Hannah is a passionate believer in the power of writing to support mental health and runs a local peer-support group for mums who enjoy creative writing. Hannah’s debut novel was longlisted for both The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition and The Bath Children’s Novel Award in 2019, before winning the Hachette Children’s Novel Award in 2020.

“I feel so honoured to be included with the winners of this year’s Northern Writers’ Awards and for my novel to be published by Hachette is completely astonishing and amazing! Thank you so much to the judging panel – I am absolutely delighted!”

John D. Rutter

John D. Rutter is a short story writer who also teaches, edits and writes about short stories. He completed an MA in Creative Writing at Lancaster University and a PhD on the short story at Edge Hill University where he has taught part time for several years.

Approval, his first full-length collection, was published by Saraband Books with the support of the Northbound Book Award 2020.

The Northbound Book Award will change my life. Having started writing relatively late in life, I can finally say I am an author and commit my time to writing. I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with Saraband.

Gaynor Jones

Gaynor Jones is a writer and performer currently based in Oldham. She has won the Bath Flash Fiction Award and the Mairtín Crawford Short Story Award and was named Northern Writer of the Year at the 2018 Northern Soul Awards.

Her short fiction has been published in various literary journals and anthologies and her writing has been nominated for accolades including the Pushcart Prize and Best Small Fictions. She has been placed or listed in numerous writing competitions including the Anton Chekov Award for Short Fiction and the Mslexia flash fiction competition. She has created bespoke spoken word pieces for the Not Quite Light Festival and the Words & Music Festival and performed at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe with For Books Sake.

Gaynor is also the founder of the Story For Daniel competition, launched to raise awareness of childhood cancer support and blood stem cell donation.

Gaynor is known for her strange, surreal, darkly humorous takes on contemporary life and takes inspiration from her Merseyside upbringing and her past employment which includes everything from care assistant to hotdog seller, though mostly she worked with young people. Girls Who Get Taken is her first full length work.

“As someone with no formal writing qualifications, who has come to writing relatively late in life, I can assure you that this award means the world to me. I struggle with self-doubt, as I know many writers do, and having this positive affirmation about – and support of – my work has given me faith that there is a place for my words beyond the scope of my strange and scattered little world. I cannot wait to get started on this programme of support from New Writing North and am so grateful for the opportunity.”

Victoria Bennett

Victoria Bennett is a disabled writer, poet and producer, living with genetic haemochromatosis and hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome+. In 1999, she founded the radical-rural Wild Women Press collective and curates the #WildWomanWeb. Long ago, in 2002, she won a New Writing North Northern Promise Award and the inaugural Andrew Waterhouse Award and has published four pamphlets. Her forthcoming poetry pamphlet, To Start The Year From Its Quiet Centre, is due out in Autumn 2020 with Indigo Dreams Publishing.

She is a co-director of The Wizard and The Wyld, bringing together digital gaming and literature and is currently undertaking an MRes Creative Practice with the University of Highlands and Islands (Shetland), combining poetry, memoir and XR technology to explore narratives of absence within landscapes of personal and ecological loss.

Her work-in-progress nature memoir, All My Wild Mothers, was long-listed for the Nan Shepherd Prize (2019). An intimate story of motherhood, loss and planting, this is her first full-length creative non-fiction work. She is a full-time carer at home and lives in Cumbria with her husband and young son. When not juggling motherhood and creative projects, she can be found howling in the hills with the Wild Women, her creative tribe.

Ruksana Abdul-Majid

Ruksana Abdul-Majid lives in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. After receiving her PhD in English Literature from The University of Sheffield in 2016 she has been engaged in academic research, writing, and editing, and has also worked in education publishing. Her current project, the novel My Family, and Other Tragedies, is her first foray into fiction.

I’m delighted and more than a little bit astonished to have won a Northern Debut Award. It’s a huge boost to my confidence as a fledging writer of fiction, and I’m looking forward to making the most of the opportunity.

Dani Watson

Dani Watson is a writer based in Gateshead. She has always loved to write and has received support with her creative work through programmes such as The Writing Squad, BFI Film Academy, New Creatives and the Young Writers’ Talent Fund.

Dani studied a Combined Honours degree in English Literature, French and Sociology at Durham University. She has most recently worked as a trainee script supervisor at Pinewood Studios through the BFI Future Skills programme and is also taking part in a year-long film trainee programme through ScreenSkills. Dani is currently receiving support to write her first full length novel through Writers’ Block North East.

“I have been writing for a long time but this is the first time I have received a reward for my work. Receiving this award is a huge confidence boost and gives me the drive to continue writing. I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to receive support with my manuscript in progress and hope that this will help me to develop further as a writer.”

Mark Holmes

Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, Mark started writing stories as a child. Since then he has worked variously in bars, building sites, shops, and call-centres. In 2015 he completed a degree in Creative Writing through the Open University, followed by a Master’s at the University of Edinburgh. He is now studying towards a PhD in Creative Writing at Northumbria University and, in his spare time, enjoys online-poker, grain alcohol and whittling. He supports Leeds United.

“I feel very lucky to have won a place on the TLC Free Reads scheme. It is a huge honour and a massive vote of confidence from the Northern Writers’ Awards and New Writing North, particularly for new and emerging writers such as myself. I look forward to taking full advantage of the scheme, and to the expert guidance and opportunities it will provide. Thank you.”

Jodie Russian-Red (Winner)

Jodie Russian-Red is a Hull-born writer, poet and artist. She has presented spoken-word shows and word-based art installation at Attenborough Arts Centre, Nottingham Poetry Festival, The Adelphi, Rough Trade, The Collection (Lincoln) and the occasional work’s staff room kitchen Christmas ‘do’.

In 2019 she was published in Kit de Waal’s Common People: An Anthology of Working-Class Writers. Most recently she was the guest poet at Hull Central Library for ‘Women of Words’ in March 2020.

After spending 2019 working with Jarvis Cocker on BE KINDER, a National Trust art project commemorating the Kinder Mass Trespass, she is now working on a collection of short stories about suburban working-class culture, allotments, karaoke competitions and all-inclusive holidays in Tenerife.

She is currently Artist-in-Residence at Durham University.

“It means so much to me to win an award that is founded on Northern working-class writing in the 1960s, a world of stories and characters I love more than any other and which makes up the majority of my bookshelf and my late-night drunken pub talk! I can’t pretend that I’m not mainly obsessed with winning some ready cash – but as a working-class person, I also have this obsession with feeling like I need to earn it, by working at it and writing more – so I’m excited on both counts!”

Sarah Tarbit (Highly Commended)

Sarah has always been fascinated by stories and being brought up in Northumberland meant that there were plenty of them around to spark her imagination. So it came as no surprise when she gained BA and MA degrees in Creative Writing and started scribbling down stories about the folk in the North. Her writing for children takes inspiration from the myths and legends of Northumberland, while her adult work explores working-class life in the region.

“I’m hugely grateful to Naomi Booth, Michael Chaplin and New Writing North for their support. Having them back my work is empowering, it means validation – not just for me as a writer, but for working-class stories and stories from underrepresented groups as a whole. It shows there are people who value these stories, see that they need to be told, and will help get them into the world.”

Andrew Wilkinson

Andrew has been writing fiction since he attended a creative writing night class at his local high school 2008-2010. He went on to do the MA in Creative Writing at Northumbria University and graduated with a distinction in 2013. He is currently working on a novel about Gustav Mahler, and his short story ‘Timewind’ featured in the ‘Uncommonalities’ anthology edited by John Schoneboom. Andrew has previously published nonfiction in the field of clinical psychology and psychotherapy. He lives in Newcastle upon Tyne with his wife, two children and a large number of classical and prog-rock CDs.

“It means a lot to me to win this award. My time at Northumbria University studying creative writing was very enjoyable, very challenging and I learned so much. When you’re juggling a demanding day job with family life it can be hard to hold on to your writer identity, especially during the pandemic when work and home life have been busier than ever. This award couldn’t have come at a better time and when the world settles down I look forward to using the award to get some intensive writing time back into my life and complete the novel.”

Samantha Neale

Samantha has been working as an actor for 11 years and writing for the stage for 2 years. Samantha’s theatre credits include: Iris, Nativities and The Girls from Poppy field Close at Live Theatre, Newcastle; Bobby Robson Saved my Life at Customs House, Tyne Theatre and Ipswich Regent; Down to Zero and Walter at Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle; 1916 No Turning Back at Gala Theatre, Durham. Her television credits include: Vera, Married Single Other, Eternal Law (ITV); Holby City, Wolfblood, Doctors (BBC).

Sam has written short plays that have been produced professionally at Live Theatre, Alphabetti Theatre and The Exchange, all Newcastle.

Samantha’s debut short play Elliot was nominated for the Emerge Creative Writing Prize in 2018. Her play Familiar completed a week long run at Alphabetti as part of their 3 Shorts programme in September, 2019. Samantha’s first full-length play, Last Seen, Bensham Road, debuted at Live Theatre’s Elevator Festival, March 2020. She wrote and performed the piece as well as securing arts council funding for the project.

“I am over the moon to be given this opportunity at this early stage in my writing career. Commissions for 30-something, Geordie Actor-Mams with a passion for horror are (weirdly) few and far between. Winning this award will enable me to develop my skills as a writer and create connections within the industry that I might never had made otherwise. I can’t wait to get started and share my work with the world, thank you NWN!”

Jenna Campbell

Jenna was born and raised in Liverpool. From a young age her ambition has been to work in television and her love of writing led her down the screenwriting path. At the age of 17, whilst studying her A Levels and working as an extra on Hollyoaks, Jenna suffered a life-threatening illness and spent months on a critical care unit. Due to a lengthy recovery, her plans of studying screenwriting at university had to be put on hold.

Jenna eventually returned to her studies, attending Liverpool John Moores University in 2010, graduating with a BA Hons in Screenwriting and Film Production. Whilst there, she gained experience working for MoFilm at the Cannes Lions Festival, as well as working for Kudos as a runner on the Channel 4 production Utopia.

Two years later, newly married with a two-month-old son, Jenna returned to LJMU to study her Masters in Screenwriting, graduating with a first.

Jenna and her husband now have two young sons. She is currently working on her portfolio of screenplays, including two feature scripts. She regularly enters screenwriting contests and has been shortlisted in several competitions.

“I am honoured to have been selected as this year’s winner. I would like to thank Channel 4 and Lime Pictures for awarding me this fantastic opportunity to be mentored by the talented team at Hollyoaks. I look forward to working hard in the exciting year ahead.”

Sally Tottle

Sally Tottle is a part-time writer, part-time cook in a not-for-profit vegetarian cafe and full-time parent living in Bradford. She writes poetry, short stories and a blog supporting families to grow food at home. Her ghost story, ‘After the Funeral’, appeared in a collection published by Disquieted Dreams Press (2016) and her flash fiction featured in Leeds Trinity University’s Mystery anthology (2019). Her poetry has been published in Northern Life (2015) and will appear in Huddersfield University’s Grist anthology. Sally was educated at UCL and Charlotte Mason College, Ambleside.

After a career in environmental education, six years ago she acted on a longstanding desire to develop her writing by enrolling on an evening class at Bradford College. Since then she has joined L.T.U.’s MA creative writing programme and is currently working on her first novel, Borrowed Time, the story of a dysfunctional family living in a dystopian future. Sally recently acquired four hens.

“I am passionate about making my novel the best it can be and reaching a wide readership. Winning the Northern Writers’ Andrea Badenoch Award will be a huge boost. I couldn’t be more thrilled.”

Naomi Kelsey

Naomi is an English teacher from Newcastle currently working on a novel about Mary, Queen of Scots and the murder of Lord Darnley. She won a Northern Writers Fiction Award in 2014 for a novel about Arbilla Stuart, and has continued to write fiction set in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. She has been writing stories since she could hold a pen. In 2010, she won the Wicked Young Writer’s Award for her story ‘Captain James Hook’s Most Estimable Treatise in Defence of Prospective Infanticide’, which was in no way whatsoever inspired by a Friday afternoon lesson with Year 9. Her short stories have also been published in Mslexia and shortlisted for the Bristol Prize, the Dorothy Dunnett Award, and the Bridport Prize. Naomi is represented by Anne Williams at the Kate Hordern Literary Agency.

“I’m absolutely delighted to win the Arvon Award. The prospect of a week away writing would be fabulous at the best of times, but in this climate it’s even more exciting, and this prize will keep me feeling inspired and validated as a writer until Arvon are able to reopen.”

Katie Wilson (Winner)

Katie Wilson is a young writer and fairly skilled daydreamer who attended Amble Young Writers for two years, where she discovered that writing can let her be as weird as she wants to be. She was able to experiment with many different styles of writing and build her confidence. Katie is currently doing a teaching English as a foreign language course and hopes to continue her writing and daydreaming as a hobby.

“I am delighted that people were able to enjoy my writing and it’s so exciting to have won this award! I can’t wait to keep writing, daydreaming, and telling stories.”

Naomi Thomas (Highly Commended)

Naomi Thomas is a committed member of Sheffield Young Writers and has this April been selected for the tenth Writing Squad. Her work has always shown an interest in the unusual, whether that’s the play about a bride visiting the moon on her wedding day that she wrote when she started school, or the short story focusing on the social impact of corporate time travel which has recently been chosen for publication in Sheffield Hallam’s journal MATTER. She has also read at Hive events and been published in the Hive 2019 anthology ‘Surfing the Twilight’. In the future, she hopes to pursue her love of English Literature while developing her skills as a writer.

“This award has encouraged me to take myself seriously as a writer. The fact that other people have enjoyed my work has made me feel much more confident in exploring what I’m passionate about in my writing, and using the styles that excite me, rather than doing what I think will ‘look good’. I’m so grateful for such an incredible opportunity to have my stories recognised.”

Wambui Hardcastle (Highly Commended)

Wambui Hardcastle is a young freelance theatre maker based in Newcastle. She works as an actor, writer, and producer. She’s part of Northern Stage’s Young Company, and is on the writing team for its shows. Originally, Wambui wrote Mayonnaise Girl for the Young Company’s 2019 show “Where Do We Belong”, and was encouraged to write the piece by director Louie Ingham and writer Lee Mattinson.

“I’ve performed the piece multiple times, but it means a lot to have its merit recognised as an individual piece of writing. Thank you for the opportunity. It’ll be a source of encouragement to fall back on when times get tough.”

Jessica de Beer

Jess de Beer has been interested in creative writing since she was very young. She would tend to daydream and lose focus often as a child as her mind created different imaginative storylines!

Eventually she began to write her thoughts down on paper, filling any paper she could find with short stories and random ideas that popped into her mind. She remembers purchasing a book called ‘100 Short Stories’ to write about – it didn’t take her long to complete the book and recognise her love of writing and her desire to improve.

Jess struggled with school for many different reasons. She found herself unable to focus in most of her lessons, all but one…English! She loved English so much and has always had an amazing relationship with her English teachers. An example of this is her recent English teacher at South Tyneside College who nominated her for this award.

Jess found a passion for reading very young and still adores reading to this day; she credits a lot of her writing skill and vocabulary to the excellent writers whose books she has read.

“I am so honoured to receive such an amazing award. I never thought my writing would be good enough to give me such a wonderful opportunity and this award has truly lifted my confidence as well as opening so many doors for me.”