The Matthew Hale Award 2026
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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