Significant Ink: Newcastle
Thank you for your interest in applying to Significant Ink: Newcastle. 3 writers will be selected in July and will receive a £1000 bursary, mentoring and development opportunities with partners.
Applications are open for global majority writers who are aged 18+ and who permanently reside in Newcastle, North Tyneside or Northumberland. You may have some experience writing or you may be brand new. You should so far have not published a full-length work (a novel, memoir or poetry collection) but may have published individual short stories or poems, or a poetry pamphlet.
The deadline for submissions is 12 Noon on Monday 7th July 2025. All submissions must be made through Submittable.
Before you apply you might consider attending some of our free workshops. You don’t have to live in a particular local authority to attend. The four workshops cover poetry, fiction, life writing and screenwriting. It is a great way to meet other emerging writers and have a go at different genres of writing. The workshops details are:
- Writing Poetry with Papi Jeovani at Alphabetti Theatre, Wednesday 18th June, 18.00–20.00
- Screenwriting with Emily Low at Northern Stage, Saturday 28th June, 11.00–13.00
- Writing Fiction with Juliana Mensah at East End Library and Community Hub, Monday 30th June, 11.00–13.00
- Life Writing, tbc
If you cannot attend our free workshops, you are still welcome to apply. The application will ask for a short sample of your writing of up to 10 pages. Your submission could be poetry, fiction, narrative non-fiction or writing for TV. For example, this could be an extract of your novel; a couple of short stories; several poems; or an extract of your TV script. You will also be asked to give a short answer to two questions and to complete some monitoring questions.
The entries are judged anonymously at all stages of the process. The reading team and judges will not see any of the monitoring information you submit, which is an important part of ensuring the judging process is fair and even.
You will need to include your name when you register but please leave it off your application questions and don’t include it on any part of your submission, such as the title page or as a header or footer, or in the document file name.
Submissions will be read internally at New Writing North. A shortlist will then be passed to writers Emily Low and Kit Fan to find the three winners.
Applicants will receive a response to their submission by the end of July.
If you have any questions or need support with completing the application form, please contact emilylow@newwritingnorth.com.
Please note, due to funding from the North East Combined Authority, you must permanently live in Newcastle, North Tyneside or Northumberland.
There is one award available. The winner will be offered the unique chance to work closely with Bonafide Films through a long-term placement, a bursary worth £3000 and mentoring support. They will take part in a peer-group programme with opportunities to meet agents and established writers and take part in a next-steps workshop. The winner will also be given access to the C4/NWN Northern Talent Network.
No writing experience is necessary. For this award, we want to discover new writers from Northern England who would like to work in television. We especially welcome submissions from people of colour and those from LGBTQ+, disabled and lower socio-economic backgrounds, who are particularly under-represented in this area of the TV industry.
Bonafide Film’s productions include the Bafta-winning Mood, and acclaimed drama The Last Post.
To enter writers should submit an outline of an original TV drama storyline (up to 400 words) and a sample script of no more than ten pages, and answer the application questions. You may enter all four strands of the Channel 4 Writing for TV Awards.
For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
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.
- Writing for television and willing to commit to developing your work through the programme on offer.
This award will be judged by: Bonafide Films, Channel 4 and New Writing North.
For any enquiries, please read the FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com.
There is one award available. The winner will be offered the unique chance to work closely with FilmNation TV UK through a long-term placement, a bursary worth £3000 and mentoring support. They will take part in a peer-group programme with opportunities to meet agents and established writers and take part in a next-steps workshop. The winner will also be given access to the C4/NWN Northern Talent Network.
No writing experience is necessary. For this award, we want to discover new writers from Northern England who would like to work in television. We especially welcome submissions from people of colour and those from LGBTQ+, disabled and lower socio-economic backgrounds, who are particularly under-represented in this area of the TV industry.
FilmNation TV UK is part of international independent entertainment company FilmNation Entertainment, whose TV productions include Chris O’Dowd’s Small Town, Big Story, and the award-winning HBO mini-series I Know This Much Is True.
To enter writers should submit an outline of an original TV drama storyline (up to 400 words) and a sample script of no more than ten pages, and answer the application questions. You may enter all four strands of the Channel 4 Writing for TV Awards.
For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
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.
- Writing for television and willing to commit to developing your work through the programme on offer.
This award will be judged by: FilmNation TV UK, Channel 4 and New Writing North.
For any enquiries, please read the FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com.
There is one award available. The winner will be offered the unique chance to work closely with Rope Ladder Fiction through a long-term placement, a bursary worth £3000 and mentoring support. They will take part in a peer-group programme with opportunities to meet agents and established writers and take part in a next-steps workshop. The winner will also be given access to the C4/NWN Northern Talent Network.
No writing experience is necessary. For this award, we want to discover new writers from Northern England who would like to work in television. We especially welcome submissions from people of colour and those from LGBTQ+, disabled and lower socio-economic backgrounds, who are particularly under-represented in this area of the TV industry.
Rope Ladder Fiction is the production company behind long-running school drama Waterloo Road.
To enter, writers should submit an outline of an original TV drama storyline (up to 400 words) and a sample script of no more than ten pages, and answer the application questions. You may enter all four strands of the Channel 4 Writing for TV Awards.
For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
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.
- Writing for television and willing to commit to developing your work through the programme on offer.
This award will be judged by: Rope Ladder Fiction, Channel 4 and New Writing North.
For any enquiries, please read the FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com.
There is one award available. The winner will be offered the unique chance to work closely with Warp Films through a long-term placement, a bursary worth £3000 and mentoring support. They will take part in a peer-group programme with opportunities to meet agents and established writers and take part in a next-steps workshop. The winner will also be given access to the C4/NWN Northern Talent Network.
No writing experience is necessary. For this award, we want to discover new writers from Northern England who would like to work in television. We especially welcome submissions from people of colour and those from LGBTQ+, disabled and lower socio-economic backgrounds, who are particularly under-represented in this area of the TV industry.
Warp Films productions include recent hit and cultural talking point Adolescence, Sky Atlantic mini-series Little Birds, and critically acclaimed four-part drama This is England ’90.
To enter, writers should submit an outline of an original TV drama storyline (up to 400 words) and a sample script of no more than ten pages, and answer the application questions. You may enter all four strands of the Channel 4 Writing for TV Awards.
For more information, please read the Eligibility and Conditions of Entry carefully.
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.
- Writing for television and willing to commit to developing your work through the programme on offer.
This award will be judged by: Warp Films, Channel 4 and New Writing North.
For any enquiries, please read the FAQs. If you still need an answer, contact us at awards@newwritingnorth.com.