The Hachette Children’s Novel Award is open to debut writers of middle-grade children’s fiction and early teen fiction.

We accept all kinds of children’s and early teen fiction, including but not limited to historical fiction, crime, science fiction, romance and fantasy. Please do not submit collections of short stories or individual short stories.

In terms of target age group, we are looking for fiction for children aged 7–11 (at the younger end of this bracket the word count can be 15–30K; at the older end, approx. 40K), or teen fiction for readers aged 11-13 (50–65K words), this should still exclude high-end or explicit content including swearing, sex and drugs.

There will be two winners of this award. The winning writers will be offered a financial prize of £3000 each; and a programme of mentoring opportunities with professionals at Hachette Children’s Group, including a minimum of 4 professional development sessions in a nine-month period, across editorial and design, sales, marketing and rights.

Any reasonable travel expenses will be covered by the publisher. Additionally, the winners will receive access to New Writing North’s programmes of support.

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 middle-grade and early teen fiction.

Please submit your initial 3000-6000 words and synopsis by the award deadline. Authors longlisted for the award will be contacted by 19 February 2026 and asked to deliver a complete draft of their manuscript by 28 February 2026.

Judges will be announced in November 2025.

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 awards@newwritingnorth.com.

The Young Northern Writers' Awards 2026 are 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 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.

Applications for the awards are accepted in two ways:

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

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 awards@newwritingnorth.com.

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 when the awards close. Young writers can submit creative work in any form including prose, poetry, scriptwriting, blogging, songwriting and rap.

There is one winner. 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.

Applications are accepted in two ways:

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

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 awards@newwritingnorth.com

The Eva Ibbotson Award is open to young writers aged 11–15 in the North of England who are writing in English as an additional language. Young writers can submit creative work in any form including prose, poetry, scriptwriting, blogging, songwriting and rap. Writers must be aged 15 years or younger when the awards close.

There will be one winner. The winner will receive a bespoke 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 mentoring with a professional writer, enrolment on a course, books, theatre tickets or a pass to a literature festival.

The Ibbotson prize will include a collection of Pan Macmillan books to the value of £200 to the winning pupil's school library and a set of Eva's books to the winner (and any runners up).

The award is made in memory of the writer Eva Ibbotson. Eva Ibbotson’s life was as adventurous as those of the characters she created in her mystical middle-grade stories and sweeping young adult romances.

Born in Vienna in 1925, at nine years old Eva moved to London to join her mother, a successful novelist and playwright, who had fled Vienna in 1933 after her work was banned by the Nazi authorities. Other members of Eva’s family also escaped Vienna and settled in England, and their shared experiences later influenced Eva’s writing, with the themes of home, refugees and immigration running through her books.

Eva wrote more than twenty books for children and won the Smarties Prize for her novel Journey to the River Sea in 2001. She died at her home in Newcastle upon Tyne in 2010, aged eighty-five.

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

This award is judged by the family of Eva Ibbotson, New Writing North and a guest judge (to be announced).

Applications for the awards are accepted in two ways:

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

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

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 awards@newwritingnorth.com