Northern Writers’ Awards 2024 unveiled

Posted on 3 July 2024

Congratulations to Cindy Withjack, who has been awarded the Northern Debut Award for Fiction

The 25 winners of the 25th Northern Writers’ Awards have been unveiled. Each year the awards identify some of the best unpublished writing in the country, with the overall prize pot worth £50,000.

The Northern Writers’ Awards were founded by New Writing North in 2000. Awards offered in this round are supported by partners including Northumbria University, Arts Council England, Hachette Children’s Group, Newcastle University, The North Literary Agency, Arvon, The Literary Consultancy, the writers Benjamin Myers and Andrew McMillan and the families and friends of Sid Chaplin and Matthew Hale.

Ashley Hickson-Lovence, novelist and Northern Writers’ Awards judge, said: "It was a complete honour to be a Northern Writers’ Awards judge this year. Congratulations to all the worthy winners; thank you for allowing me into your respective worlds. But whether you took home the top prize or not, this is just the beginning of the journey. Keep going."

Rachel Mann, literary agent and Northern Writers’ Awards judge, said: "It was an absolute pleasure to read through this year’s longlists, and discuss their many merits with Ashley. Each entry was wonderful in its own way reflecting the wealth of literary talent we have in the North."

J J Arcanjo, novelist and Hachette Children’s Novel Awards judge, said: "It has been a genuine honour to be a part of the Hachette Children’s Novel Award judging panel and getting to read the brilliant stories penned by our talented shortlist of Northern writers. Huge congratulations to our two winners - your stories were clever and fun and, perhaps most importantly, got us all very excited for the future of children’s books."

Will Mackie, senior programme manager and programme leader (MA in Publishing) at New Writing North, added: “Now 25 years old, the Northern Writers’ Awards are more essential and relevant than ever. Our programme continues to offer transformational support to writers in the North of England as we evolve trusted models of talent development and forge lasting connections with the book trade. The long-term investment in writing talent made by New Writing North and our partners has contributed to an enlivening and diversification of literature and publishing, benefiting readers and writers of all ages and backgrounds. We’re delighted to be introducing our 2024 winning writers at this year’s awards and are hugely grateful to our lead partners at Northumbria University and all the funders, donors and supporters who make these awards possible."

You can see the full list of awardees on the New Writing North website.