The Bookseller.com

16th October 2008

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Seven share Northern Writers awards

02.05.08 Anna Richardson

Seven writers have been honoured by this year's Northern Writers' Awards, which supports the winners to place their work with agents and publishers.

This year's winners are Carolyn Jess-Cooke, a poet from Gateshead, Claire Lewis, a fiction writer living in Newcastle, Mark Magrs, a children’s fiction writer from South Shields, Paul Summers, a poet from North Shields and Zainab Radhi, a fiction writer from Iraq, who settled in the North-East when she was a teenager.

I addition, two writers receive an award in memory of North East writers - Gibby Keys in memory of Andrea Badenoch and Toby Martinez in memory of poet Andrew Waterhouse.
The seven writers will share a prize fund of £25,000.

This year's judges were Alice Quinn, director of the Poetry Society of America and poetry editor for The New Yorker, and Karolina Sutton, literary agent at ICM Books.

Claire Malcolm, director of New Writing North who chaired the decision process, said: "The seven winners show both the depth and diversity of the North East writing scene at the moment. The quality of the writing submitted for the awards this year was really impressive and highlights the dynamic writing environment that is flourishing in the region”.

Media Anna Richardson Prize New Writing North Claire Malcolm