In conjunction with Arvon, we are offering a prose writer the chance to undertake an Arvon course. This may be either a tutored or untutored retreat, depending on what you think will be of most benefit to you. Children’s, YA writers and writers for adults may apply for this award. We are grateful to Arvon for their continued support of this award.
Read the Eligibility Guidelines here.
 To enter writers should submit a sample of 3000–6000 words and a synopsis of up to 600 words. Please answer the application questions.
 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.
• Be working towards a full-length work of fiction, narrative non-fiction or poetry.

This award will be judged by Arvon and New Writing North.
 For more information, please read the Eligibility and Terms and Conditions carefully.
 For any enquiries, please read the FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com

This award is for a single unpublished short story of up to 1500 words. This opportunity is open to new, emerging and established writers. 

The winner of the Finchale Award for Short Fiction will receive £1000 and access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Network. 

The award is named after Finchale Priory, a place of retreat for the monks of Durham during the Middle Ages. We’re grateful to the writer Benjamin Myers, whose generous support has made this unique opportunity possible.  

Read the Eligibility Guidelines here.

To enter writers should submit a short story of up to 1500 words and answer the application questions.
Please note, you may enter this award in addition to one other award.
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.

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.

For any enquiries, please read FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com

The Sid Chaplin Award is for writers of fiction and narrative non-fiction who identify as originating from a working-class background.
The winning writer will receive a bursary of £2000; a manuscript appraisal from The Literary Consultancy; advisory sessions from the writer Michael Chaplin; and access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Network.
The award is made in memory of the writer Sid Chaplin (1916–1986) whose novels such as The Day of the Sardine and The Watchers and the Watched are celebrated for their stylistic mastery and their vivid depictions of working-class life in North East England.
We are very grateful to the Chaplin family, the North Agency and Newcastle University for their support of this award.
Read the Eligibility Guidelines here.
To enter writers should submit a sample of 3000–6000 words and a synopsis and answer the application questions.
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.
• Identify as originating from a working-class background.
• Working a memoir, novel, young-adult novel, short-story collection or work of literary essays.
• An unpublished, emerging or established writer.

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Terms and Conditions carefully.
For any enquiries, please read the FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com

The Tempest Prize will be awarded to one unpublished LGBTQ+ writer based in the North of England.

This award is open to poetry, fiction and narrative non-fiction. The winner of the Tempest Prize will receive £1000, access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Network and mentoring from Andrew McMillan.

We’re grateful to Andrew McMillan, whose generous support has made this unique opportunity possible.

Read the Eligibility Guidelines here.

To enter writers will need to provide an extract of a work-in-progress. For fiction or narrative non-fiction this should be 3000-6000 words, along with a synopsis. For poetry, please enter up to 15 pages of poetry and a short commentary on your collection-in-progress. Please also answer the application questions.

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.
• Belonging to the LGBTQ+ community.
• Working on a memoir, novel, young-adult novel, short-story collection, poetry collection or work of literary essays.
• An unpublished writer.

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Terms and Conditions carefully.

For any enquiries, please read the FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com

For this award, we welcome entries from people marginalised by being low earners and/or belonging to communities currently under-represented in the industry. For more information, see TLC’s website.
  In conjunction with The Literary Consultancy we are offering up to three poets, prose writers and children’s writers the chance to receive an in-depth editorial report on their work in progress. You must be working towards a full-length work (e.g. a novel, work of creative non-fiction, poetry collection or short-story collection). Although your manuscript does not have to be complete, you must be in a position to submit the manuscript (either complete or partially complete) for assessment before the end of February 2026. Unpublished and previously published writers may enter work in this category.
  In addition to the Free Read, writers will receive £500 and be given access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Talent Network.
Read the Eligibility Guidelines here.
  To enter writers should submit an extract of between 3000 and 6000 words and a synopsis of up to 600 words. Please answer the application questions.
  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.
• Be working towards a full-length work of fiction, narrative non-fiction or poetry.

This award will be selected by representatives of New Writing North.
  For more information, please read the Eligibility and Terms and Conditions carefully.
  For any enquiries, please read the FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com

This award is 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 on 6 February 2025 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:

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

This award will be judged by Sandra Sawicka.

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.

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 on 6 February 2025 when the awards close. Young writers can submit creative work in any form including prose, poetry, scriptwriting, blogging, songwriting and rap.

There is one award winner each year. 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. This award is made possible through New Writing North's partnership with our lead partner Northumbria University.

This award is judged by the family of Matthew Hale and New Writing North.

Applications for the awards are accepted in two ways:

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

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

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.

This 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 11-15 when the awards close on 6 February 2025. 

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 Ibbottson 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). 

The Young Northern Writers’ Awards will close on 28 February 2025. 

Applications for the awards are accepted in two ways: 

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

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

For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.