Winners 2026

Phoebe Walker

Phoebe Walker is a poet and novelist originally from Northumberland, now living in Greater Manchester. Her debut poetry pamphlet, Animal Noises, was published by Green Bottle Press in 2020, and received an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors in 2021. She has also received the Mairtín Crawford Poetry Award, and a Northern Writers’ Award for Poetry in 2012. Her poems have appeared in Under the Radar, The Tangerine, The Moth, Ambit, Magma, and in the Northern Poetry Library’s ‘Poem of the North’ exhibition. Her arts journalism has been published by the TLS and the Observer. Her first novel, Temper, was published by Fairlight Books in 2023. She is currently working on her second novel.

“Winning the Charlotte Aitken Trust Award for the manuscript of my novel is such an important moment for me in my career as a writer – the validation and practical support the award represents, as well as the connection to a community of Northern writers, is invaluable. After struggling for a long time to make proper time for my writing, I’m now full of happy anticipation for the scope and space to write which this award will afford me.”

Jodie Matthews

Jodie Matthews is a Cornish writer and poet, living in the North. Her first novel, Meet Me at the Surface, was shortlisted for the Bath Novel Awards 2021 and the Blue Pencil First Novel Awards 2021.

“I am so honoured to be awarded a Charlotte Aitken Trust Award for my work-in-progress: Soft Spun Silk, a true passion project, and the weirdest thing I’ve ever written. Winning a Northern Writers’ Award would always be special, but to win one for this feels especially so. These awards give authors the opportunity to branch out and explore, nurturing a freedom of creativity which is so important in the creation of new work. This award couldn’t be more perfectly timed for me, coming as I explore a different genre. I’m so excited to develop my work-in-progress over the next year with New Writing North, and I’m forever grateful to the readers, judges, and organisers for the recognition.”

Kris Johnson

Kris Johnson’s debut collection, Ghost River (Bloodaxe, 2023), was shortlisted for the 2025 Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize for a distinctive first volume and longlisted for the 2023 Laurel Prize for ecopoetry and nature writing. She received a Developing Your Creative Practice grant from Arts Council England to develop her second collection, The Vast Kingdom of Nowhere, forthcoming from Bloodaxe Books in 2027. In addition to full-length collections, she has published a pamphlet of poetry, Skinny Dip (Enchiridion, 2022), and in journals, including Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry London, Poetry Northwest, Poetry Review, and Poetry Wales. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Newcastle University where she has also taught and worked as a researcher. She writes for Mslexia and lives in York.

“I am completely thrilled to be the recipient of a Charlotte Aitken Trust Award for Poetry. I am sincerely grateful to the Charlotte Aitken Trust, and to New Writing North and John Glenday for seeing potential in The Good Instrument, my collection-in-progress. It has provided such a massive confidence boost at this pivotal moment in my writing life, and I can’t wait to see what’s possible with the time and space afforded by this award.”

Amelia Loulli

Amelia Loulli is a poet, essayist and PhD candidate living in Cumbria with her three children. She is the author of SLIP, published by Jonathan Cape, which won the Seamus Heaney First Collection Poetry Prize, a Northern Debut Award for Poetry, and was highly commended in the Forward Prizes 2023 & 2025. Her work has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize six times and is published in various places including the London Review of Books, Poetry Review and Rialto. Amelia is currently working on her second collection and a verse novel.

“I am so grateful to the Charlotte Aitken Trust and to New Writing North for this award. The support that I have received from the Northern Writers’ Awards has been career changing for me as a writer and this award comes at a time in my writing life when I needed it most. Thank you to the judge, John Glenday, for seeing something worthwhile in my latest poems.”

Désirée Reynolds

Désirée Reynolds is a writer, editor, curator, interviewer and DJ living in Sheffield. A South Londoner up North, she started her writing career as a freelance journalist for the Jamaica Gleaner and the Village Voice.

Her short stories are in numerous anthologies both online and in print. Seduce, her first novel, was published by Peepal Tree Press in 2013. Her fiction is concerned with Black women, internal landscapes notions of self, beauty, race and being.

She is currently artist in residence at Rotherham Archives and founder and creative director of Dig Where You Stand, an archival justice movement that seeks to uncover the hidden Black and Brown stories of the archive, centring them and using art to retell the narrative of people and place to bring about memory justice.

“Thank you so much for this honour. To receive this prize for nonfiction is deeply meaningful, because nonfiction asks us to pay close attention, to people, to memory, to history and to the truths that are often difficult to face. We live in a time when facts can be fragile. It is in these times I believe narrative nonfiction matters because nonfiction tells us the story of a truth. It helps us to see more carefully, to acknowledge, to sit with, make space for, to recognise and to think more deeply. That’s what I hope and with this award I hope I achieve that: that’s what we, as writers of anything, wish for a reader, that we meet each other on the page.”

Nate Black

Nate Black is a proudly neurodivergent writer from Redcar and Cleveland who enjoys all things queer and macabre. A lifelong fan of horror, Nate adores writing gruesome but thought-provoking tales, telling all of his stories through an unabashedly queer lens. Outside of writing, Nate works in marketing as a brand social media manager and enjoys creating bookish content on TikTok. Always eager to support his local community, you’ll often find Nate fiercely writing at his local library or enjoying a cocktail by the beach.

“I never imagined I’d win the Northern Debut Award for Fiction, and I still can’t quite believe it. As a loud and proud Northerner, it means the world to me to be recognised by an organisation that believes in the North as much as I do. It can feel quite isolating being a creative from a small Northern town, but this award has lifted my confidence to new heights. I can’t wait to develop my project further and share it with the world. Thank you, New Writing North, for believing in me and my strange little horror story.”

Rhianna Frances

Rhianna Frances was born in Birmingham but moved to Sheffield after attending University there and falling in love with both the city and the Peak District. By day she works in a college supporting young adults with special educational needs. By any other cracks of time, Rhianna is a writer of adventurous and magical fiction, focusing on themes of found family, loss and the complexities of growing up. Her current work in progress is a YA pirate fantasy novel with a magical undercurrent. Her husband, son, and mischievous pet rabbit are her number one fans. Rhianna holds an MA in Creative Writing from Sheffield Hallam University.

“I first learned about the Northern Writers’ Awards whilst studying for my MA in Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University and working on the novel that I finally decided to enter this year. I have always admired everything the Awards stand for in their commitment to championing artists from all backgrounds, and to now be recognised by them is a huge honour. As a full-time working mum, I have spent years fitting writing into the small spaces around everyday life, often with tired eyes and a foggy brain. Winning this award is a profound encouragement to keep going and to believe in my work. The monetary prize will also make a genuine difference, allowing me to attend writing and literature events I always wanted to but were financially out of reach. I am unbelievably grateful to have won this award, and I still can’t believe it!”

Antony Dunn

Antony Dunn has published four collections of poems: Pilots and Navigators (Oxford University Press), Flying Fish (Carcanet OxfordPoets), Bugs (Carcanet OxfordPoets) and Take This One to Bed (Valley Press), which was featured in New Writing North’s Read Regional programme in 2018. Winner of the Newdigate Prize and an Eric Gregory Award, he is a regular tutor for The Poetry School and has taught many times for the Arvon Foundation. He has worked on a number of translation projects with poets from Holland, Hungary, Israel and China. He has been Poet in Residence at Ilkley Literature Festival, the University of York and the People Powered Press. Until 2018 he was Artistic Director of the Bridlington Poetry Festival. Antony lives in Leeds. www.antonydunn.org

“It’s quite stunning to win the Northern Writers’ Award for Poetry, honestly. After many years of almost complete writing inaction I’d lost some confidence in the idea of myself as a poet. I didn’t realise it at the time, but the collection of poems that have won this award began to coalesce during a weekend retreat in Staithes, on the coast of North Yorkshire – a gift from friends in 2023. Soon afterwards, my father died and poems of a new kind started pouring out, and I didn’t trust them because they felt too much, too fast, too raw. But they were the poems I had when applications for this award opened, and in they went. So to find them approved by a poet as great as John Glenday, and by an organisation as admirable as New Writing North, is a really revitalising boost – and one for which I hadn’t quite dared to wish. And here’s to everyone not sure if they’re confident enough to enter next time. Do!”

Sally Baker

Sally Baker’s pamphlet Ragwort was a runner-up in the Poetry Business International Book and Pamphlet Competition in 2025. Her poems have appeared in a variety of magazines including Pennine Platform, Propel, The North, Rialto and Strix. She was commended in the Magma, Manchester Cathedral and George Crabbe poetry competitions. A poem from her first pamphlet, The Sea and The Forest, published by The Poetry Business, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize. She was born by the sea in Suffolk and now lives in the Pennines, where she grows flowers and teaches poetry. Sally is currently studying for a PhD in Place Writing Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University.

“I’m absolutely delighted to have won a Northern Writers’ Award. It’s a huge privilege and honour, as well as a validation of my writing. I’m so grateful to the judge John Glenday and to New Writing North for seeing potential in my work, and I look forward to developing my collection with the help of this prize.”

Carlton Rose

Carlton Rose is a poet from Wolverhampton who lives in Manchester. His work has appeared in the Poetry Review, Magma, Ambit and various other publications.

“Kind words and encouragement from a few individuals gave me the confidence to apply for this award and I thank them for this. I’d also like to thank New Writing North and the judges who spent time with my work. I appreciate being given this opportunity to develop, which will help me to better realise the ambition of my manuscript. Being mentored and meeting other writers are aspects of the award I especially look forward to.”

Wendy Davis

Wendy Davis has lived in North West England all her life and has been writing stories for almost as long. She has always wanted to become a published author but after graduating from the University of Central Lancashire with a BA (Hons) in English Literary Studies, Wendy used her literacy skills to produce information booklets for schools at an examination board and minute meetings at a social housing provider, among other roles. Having never given up on using her wild imagination, Wendy continues to write children’s stories about strange things happening in the real world, hoping to help children explore their fears in the safe space of a book. In her spare time, Wendy enjoys discovering spooky settings for future novels on walks with her ball-obsessed dog.

“I’m thrilled to win the Hachette Children’s Novel Award. For the judges to see potential in this particular manuscript means so much to me because it’s the most personal of my stories to date, as it draws on my own struggles with social anxiety. I’m certain that, with support from New Writing North and Hachette Children’s Group, I can further develop my winning manuscript along with my writing skills. I am excited about what the future holds for me and my stories.”

Sabah Nawaz

Sabah Nawaz is from Lancashire and writes children’s and speculative fiction in her spare time. She has a bachelor’s degree in Classical Civilisations and currently works for a mental health charity for children and young people. She is a HarperCollins Author Academy alum and has previously been the recipient of a scholarship with the Octopus Scheme at the Novelry.

“Winning this award is a huge honour, and I’m so immensely grateful that opportunities like this exist. Thank you so so much to all of the readers and judges and to everyone else who works to put these amazing awards together.”

Sarah Hunt

Sarah Hunt is a writer working across literary fiction, theatre and poetry. The Fox at the Door is her debut novel and was selected for the Greene Door Project in 2025. She holds an MA in Creative Writing with Distinction from Roehampton University, where she won the Creative Writing Prize for her portfolio. She has had two plays produced in London and Bath, reached the second round of the Bridport Prize with her poem ‘Explaining Wooden Spoons to Him’, has been shortlisted for the Lambeth Readers and Writers Festival, and has been a finalist at the Wandsworth Arts Festival. She is a freelance senior copywriter and lives in Whitley Bay. She is currently developing her second novel, You Cannot Put a Fire Out, which explores memory, female friendships and the enduring impact of our early experiences.

“I am so excited to win the Great Northern Read Award. Sharing your work is incredibly daunting, but being recognised by New Writing North, an organisation I’ve long admired, is such a confidence boost at this stage. As a first-time novel writer, the chance to receive bespoke mentoring from Johnson & Alcock is invaluable in taking the next steps towards publication. I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the judges for their time and for this opportunity.”

Shazia J. Altaf

Shazia J. Altaf has worked in libraries, local government, call centres, as a shop merchandiser, as well as other things. Shazia won the 2021 Creative Future Writers’ Award Platinum Prize for her short story ‘Essential Thread’, which was published in CFWA’s 2021 anthology, Essential, and which Shazia performed at the Southbank Centre, London. Her debut novel Blue Sheep was shortlisted for the inaugural Primadonna Novel Prize in 2021, and her work was also listed for the 2021 Exeter Short Story Prize for ‘Lepidoptera’. Blue Sheep is inspired by her childhood being raised in the North in the 1980’s. Her short story ‘Selling Oil’ was published in the Bricklane New Writers Anthology 2022. Shazia was appointed the Creative Future Writer in Residence in 2025, and was awarded an Arts Council England project grant for her debut and current work in progress, a historical fiction novel called Unruly Bodies.

“I remember many years ago dreaming about being a writer and wondering what it felt like to win one of these Northern Writers’ Awards – what did that writer exactly feel like, what was one of those writers actually like, what thoughts ran through their head? And now I know that it can be someone ordinary just like me, a kid from the boro who used to live in a nook in the library devouring paper books like sweets. Thank you honestly, New Writing North – it makes such a difference, a real tilt in your path. Thank you for seeing something in my words, these tangle of words that we use to make alphabet bridges to try and get somewhere… I still can’t quite bloody believe it!!!”

Victoria Flemming

Victoria Flemming is a writer across poetry, song, and script. Originally from the US, she is currently studying for her Master’s in Creative Writing at Northumbria University. Prior to Newcastle, she was living in Los Angeles, California, where her original songs were featured in the television shows Grown-ish, Atlanta, Black Lightning, and more. Her poetry has blossomed since enrolling in the MA, having been selected for the 2026 Northumbria University Sharing Showcase at Live Theatre. As a product of moving several times in her formative years, her poems often explore themes of identity, home, and the natural world around her. Presently, she is working on a new stage musical, blending her past, present, and future as a writer.

“Thank you, New Writing North! It’s deeply meaningful to be recognized in this way, not only as an endorsement of current work but also as encouragement going forward. This opportunity couldn’t have crossed my path without the advocacy and support of so many others throughout this past year. My time at Northumbria has stretched me as a writer, and now, together with this award, it’s given me the confidence to write beyond what I previously thought I could.”

Lauren C. Maltas

Lauren C. Maltas is a writer based in Manchester, originally from the Calder Valley. She was awarded second place in the Writers & Artists Working Class Writers’ Prize in 2022, and is part of The Writing Squad. Her work has appeared in Strix, Caught by the River, SAND, and Seedlings. She writes on queerness, memory, food, and intimacy.

“I’m honoured to have won the Tempest Prize. The support and encouragement it brings will help me continue to shape my memoir about food and lesbian love. It’s a book born from difficult periods as much as joyful ones, and from my belief that writing can be a way of making meaning from both. To have the project recognised in this way means a great deal, and I’m excited to see where the mentorship and support will take it. I’m incredibly excited to work with Andrew McMillan in our mentoring sessions. The delicacy of his work has long been an inspiration to my own writing, and I’m thrilled to have the chance to bring his insight to the project. Thank you to everyone who has read my work so far and to New Writing North for this award.”

Alison Armstrong

Alison Armstrong has won and been shortlisted for several prizes, most recently the Commonwealth Short Story Prize (2026) and the Dinesh Allirajah Prize (2026). In 2024 she was a fellow of Fondation Jan Michalski. Her work has been supported by the Royal Society of Literature, Society of Authors, Arts Council England, The Strachey Trust and New Writing North. Her second novel, Museum of Infinite Light, comes out with Bluemoose Books in 2027. She is working on a landscape memoir and a short story collection. She lives and works in Lancaster, UK.

“It was wonderful to hear the news about winning the Sid Chaplin Award. An award that honours another writer’s legacy always feels extra special. I have been fortunate enough to be supported in various ways by the team at New Writing North over the years. It’s a really wonderful organisation, supporting writers in the North. It has also been great to meet other writers through New Writing North.”

Narimaan Shafi

Narimaan Shafi won the Portico Library’s Rewriting the North Mentorship Programme in 2022. Her short story, ‘What if Annette Comes for Tea’, was selected for Fox and Windmill’s anthology Tales from the Kitchen in 2024. She also won the Off the Shelf Sheffield Short Story Competition that year. Narimaan runs monthly open mics in Sheffield as well as creative writing workshops at her local library. In 2025 she became an associate of the Writers Workshop and has built a community of writers from the global majority.

“I’m a writer so rejection and I are good friends. On my phone, all I saw of Will’s email was ‘Dear Narimaan, I’m very pleased…’. I stopped breathing as I opened the email to find out what he was so pleased about. Then came the dancing and running around to find someone to tell. I could not be happier about winning this Award. My writing often centres on growing up in the North so an award from New Writing North means everything.”

Beth Broomby

A Lake District–based writer and former journalist, Beth Broomby has built a career spanning research communications, media relations, and storytelling across multiple platforms from BBC Radio Drama to theatre and prose.

Her work explores themes of moral responsibility, social justice, and disability, often shining a light on voices and experiences that are underrepresented on screen and stage. Her novels combine emotional realism with a haunting sense of place.

She was selected for the 2025 Paines Plough: Tour the Writer, where her stage play Characteristics of a Child was developed and performed as part of Camden People’s Theatre’s Disability Festival, Every Body, in July 2025. Her TV drama script The Ice Swimmers was also selected for New Writing North’s Channel 4 Northern Talent Network Script Hubs 2025/26. Earlier work includes being part of the writing team for the BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play Heft Like the Herdwick (2006).

“This award has restored my faith in my own voice. It brings much-needed encouragement and validation to what can sometimes feel like a strange pursuit. All those half-legible words scribbled on the backs of receipts and hours spent writing at midnight were worthwhile! I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity, and excited to see where the coming year takes me. Thank you so much.”

Italo Ferrante

Italo Ferrante (she/they) is a genderqueer poet who earned a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Warwick. To date, Italo’s work has been selected for publication by Poetry Salzburg, bath magg, Cardiff Review, BODY, Lighthouse, Impossible Archetype and Stone of Madness. The poem ‘number’ earned Italo a Pushcart Prize nomination in 2023. She is interested in exploring horror media, trans rights, corporeality, trauma, and genre-bending autobiography.

“It is an indescribable honour to receive such an amazing award. Expressing personal distress and my marginalised experience comes with a heavy mental price. Being recognised for what I create fills me with immense hope. There is hope for readers to heal and for authors to hold each other on the page. There is hope for hurt creators to make art out of their pain and reach as many other cracked souls as possible. There is hope for the world to wake up and confront the complex realities of silenced, shame-filled narratives. Thank you a million for believing in me and my work.”

Grey Marlow

Grey Marlow is the co-founder of The Grey Area bookshop. Their manuscript Peach Pit was shortlisted for the Tempest Prize and considered for publication by Cipher Press. They are part of the 2026 Jerwood Arvon Writer Residencies programme writing a new project called Mycelium.

“I was overwhelmed when I found out I had been awarded the prize, it was completely unexpected and I am so grateful to the judges. This has really given me confidence in myself as a writer and I feel more hopeful about my future writing prospects. Thank you so much!”

Anya Adnan

Anya Adnan is a teenage aspiring author from Newcastle with a passion for the creative side of the world. From literature to art, she strives to create meaning in everything she creates, whether it is words or paint on paper. Her favourite stories to read range from classic literature to graphic novels.

“I entered the competition on a whim; the idea had rooted itself in my brain and I set to writing my piece. I don’t think I truly ever expected to win and that was why it came as such a surprise to me when I heard I’d won. I was ecstatic and, quite honestly, in shock to think someone had read my work and liked it. It gave me that little boost that I didn’t even know I needed and encouraged me to keep writing.”

Chidimma Nnadi (Highly Commended)

Chidimma Nnadi goes to Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, located in Bowdon, Altrincham. She enjoys writing stories, such as mysteries, fables, and sometimes horror. She mostly writes mystic stories and fables because she finds that writing them really boosts her creativity. Chidimma also likes reading books and comprehension.

“I am absolutely thrilled and incredibly grateful to have been highly commended for the Young Northern Writers’ Award. Winning this means so much to me because it shows that people enjoy reading the stories I love to create. Writing has always been one of my favourite ways to express my imagination, and this recognition gives me a massive boost of confidence. I want to say a huge thank you to the judges and New Writing North for this amazing opportunity. This award motivated me to keep writing, keep developing my voice and work on my next project.”

Nathan Graham

Nathan Graham is a writer and performer from South Yorkshire who mostly writes comedy with a deep affection for everyday life. He points out the absurdities in everything — parks, supermarkets, pigeons — revealing just how laughable our world can be. Nathan likes to think he’s scratching at the foundations of society and letting them know that the youth are always watching. He has been a member of Hive Young Writers since October 2024, when he first wrote poetry. Since joining, he’s supported at local open mics and events, been highly commended 3 times across 2 regional competitions, and won the Foyle young Poets Award.

“I wasn’t expecting to win this award because I knew I was competing against the youth of the North, a generation bursting at the seams with suppressed creativity. To be recognised as among the top of that category is simply fabulous, and I intend to use this award as a springboard to keep bigging up the North, and all the talents writing away in dark bedrooms and libraries, just waiting for their chance to be given a light. Personally, winning the Young Northern Writers’ Award has given me a massive boost to my writing confidence and I know I’m eager to get more work out and enter more competitions in the future. Thank you for this opportunity!”

Jessie Morris (Highly Commended)

Jessie Morris lives in Durham. She’s passionate about history, so it’s no surprise that it has become the subject of her writing. Her submission for the award comes from a novel she’s working on about the Italian Armistice in September 1943. This is the first writing competition she has entered.

“It took some convincing for me to enter the Northern Writers’ Awards because I didn’t have much faith in my writing to be honest, so to have been highly commended is a huge surprise and very encouraging. I am extremely grateful to New Writing North for the opportunity.”

Juneau Atkinson

Juneau Atkinson is a bright girl from Washington. She has always enjoyed writing, whether it be stories, scripts, or even just for fun when she has nothing else to do. She started writing as a way to cope with her parents’ separation when she was seven, and that has evolved into her becoming more creative and confident when producing written work. Over the years, her stories have been turned into scripts for her short films both in and outside of college. Each story seems to get stronger and stronger, like her, as time goes on.

“Winning this award has been a massive shock, but I am so grateful that I have been able to achieve it. Knowing a simple short story about a girl made out of glass seems to have really impacted the people who have read it and having it be entered by my lovely friend, Hazel Storr, has really helped my confidence a lot more, and I am so grateful that she encouraged me to submit the story for this competition. I am also so happy to win this award because it has boosted my ego a tiny bit, but I am really happy and appreciate everyone.”

Hidayate

Hidayate is a dedicated member of West End Skies Theatre Company, set up and led by students at Callerton Academy, and a keen member of Canteen Choir. Hidayate says “writing is the best way I know how to express myself.”

“I was surprised to get the call from Emily that I had won the award. English is a second language to me but writing creatively and for pleasure has helped me develop my skills as a writer.”