The New Writers Awards, Scotland’s leading talent development programme for emerging writers, is celebrating its 15th anniversary! Celebrate with us by looking back at the journey so far.
How the New Writers Awards began
- 2008: The New Writers Awards have been taken over by the Scottish Book Trust. Previously the scheme was run by the Scottish Arts Council as the New Writers’ Bursary Fund. We were entrusted with developing the scheme further when Dr Gavin Wallace recognised that working closely with an experienced mentor could have a profound impact on emerging writers and their craft.
- 2009: The first group of authors were recognized and we began developing our customized support package.
- 2010: In collaboration with the Gaelic Books Council, the first group of Gaelic authors was awarded.
- 2013: To give the award winners time and space to write, a writing retreat has been introduced. Our writers are currently attending the wonderful Moniack Mhor. It is a joy to bring each group to this beautiful centre – perfect for extended writing and reflection.
- 2014: We have divided the awards into categories and set up a separate jury for each category. This allows us to ensure that the applications are assessed as professionally and fairly as possible.
- 2020: We have launched the Access Fund, a dedicated fund to support award winners as part of our work to break down barriers and make our awards as accessible as possible.
- 2023: We have introduced two new categories for the awards: Spoken Word and Scots.
Winning a New Writers Award was a game changer, not just because of the prize and the all-important confidence boost, but because of the opportunities it opened up for me. It is such an important institution, such a great gift this country can give to early-career writers, and such an important investment in the future of Scottish literature.
The new writers Awards today
Each year we assemble a panel of experts for each category. We are privileged to have distinguished judges such as Jackie Kay, Kathleen Jamie, Kiran Millwood-Hargrave, Zaffar Kunial and many others.
We are proud to host the Next Chapter Award and the Callan Gordon Award alongside the New Writers Awards. The Next Chapter Award supports emerging writers over the age of 40. Previous winners include Gail Honeyman, author of Eleanor Oliphant is doing perfectly well and winner of the Costa First Novel Award 2017. The Callan Gordon Award celebrates the life of Callan Gordon, a young Scottish writer. Callan’s family generously supports this opportunity for young writers aged between 18 and 35. A prize is awarded every two years to writers of short stories or poems.
Winning a New Writers Award was a life-changing moment for me; it was a huge shock and I can still remember exactly where I was when I got the call. The award supported me, raised my profile, provided me with invaluable mentoring and pushed me to work harder and be more ambitious. I will be forever grateful to the Scottish Book Trust.
Success stories of our talented award winners
New Writers Award winners have gone on to excel in literature, with books published by Bloomsbury, Canongate, Harper Collins, Fourth Estate and many other leading UK and international publishers. Represented by agents including Jenny Brown Associates, Portobello Literary and Underline Literary Agency, the authors are at the forefront of Scottish literature. The winners have also been shortlisted and longlisted for the Booker Prize and have won the Manchester Fiction Prize and several awards at Scotland’s National Book Awards.
For more information about the outstanding writers we have supported over the years, visit our New Writers Alumni page.
Would you like to read something? Check out the award winners’ current fiction, non-fiction, children’s and young adult books, and poetry publications on our Bookshop.org.(this link opens in a new window)
Later in 2024, we look forward to reading Malachy Tallack’s The beautiful Atlantic Waltz and Lyndsey Croals Spotlight, along with many other fantastic titles from previous winners.
What does a New Writers Award include?
The award winners are offered a range of training courses on topics such as press and PR, social media and performance. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn skills that are vital to building a career as a writer. The week-long writing retreat is a highlight of the award for many award winners. In idyllic surroundings, the award winners have the time and space to focus on their craft while growing together as a group.
Another gem of the program is the mentorship. This time spent with an experienced writer helps them take their writing to the next level. Past mentors have included Don Paterson, Janice Galloway, John Burnside and Jen Hadfield, among others. Our writers have found their insights and wisdom invaluable. We are delighted to now be working with past award winners as mentors – Nadine Aisha Jassat, Kirstin Innes and PM Freestone, to name a few!
It’s very rare to be both a judge and a mentor for the New Writers Awards in Scots. As a judge, it was lovely to see emerging writers writing in different, exciting languages in Scots throughout the day. I feel very lucky to have been Craig Aitchison’s mentor: his writing is superb and I have learnt as much from him as he has from me, about the potential of Scots to tell whole new stories in new ways and to explore the shared linguistic heritage through the different Scottish dialects of Doric and Border Scots. Long may the New Writers Awards group continue!
Over the years, the awards have brought together many brilliant writers And made some great friends. Through the shared experience of the programme, New Writers Awardees form strong, long-lasting friendships as well as important industry contacts. After their award, the writers reconnect at regular online coffee meetings and the annual New Writing Showcase, a highlight of the Scottish literary calendar. Many have also collaborated on exciting writing projects. For example, Alice Tarbuck and Claire Askew have co-edited Modern craftsmanship.
It’s a joy to see the writers go from strength to strength and we support them through a number of our programmes. Many of our award winners go on to be included in the Author Directory and host live literary events around the country. We’re also delighted to be working with some award winners again, including Michael Lee Richardson and Niall O’Gallagher, through the Ignite Fellowship, our writing development programme for established authors.
After the programme has finished, the award winners continue to receive support from the Scottish Book Trust. For each author’s debut title, we arrange a meeting to discuss their publishing plans. Aside from that, whether we’re sharing publishing news online, chatting over a cup of coffee or attending a book launch, we’re always keen to recognise authors.
Winning a New Writers Award was a defining moment for me in my journey as a writer. It gave me a huge confidence boost and working with a mentor was a fantastic experience that helped me take my writing to new levels. As a New Writer, you are part of an incredibly supportive and inclusive community. If you are considering applying for a New Writers Award, then I urge you to do it, it could change your life!
Over the last 15 years, the awards have evolved in response to industry changes and feedback from award winners. We’re excited to see how they continue to grow and evolve – here’s to the next 15 years (and many more)!
Want to take your writing to the next level? Learn more about the New Writers Awards and this year’s New Writers Awardees.
