Ilkley Literature Festival review: New Writing North roadshow
The first event I went to at this year's Ilkley Literature Festival was a free hour with New Writing North, talking about their Northern Writers' Awards. I was genuinely astonished that the audience was so small (in fact without a few late arrivals it would barely have outnumbered the panel of five) as this seemed like a great opportunity to find out more about a clutch of awards that for some of the former winners on the panel have been career-defining, and indeed life-changing.
The main impression I walked out of the room with was that to win one of these awards is to be welcomed into a warm and supportive family. For a notably gruff Yorkshireman (albeit female, I've said before Yorkshirewoman just doesn't seem to trip off the tongue) that sounds like a sentimental reaction, but they genuinely seem to stay in touch with former winners as long as possible, to lend a hand (or receptive ear) where necessary, and to be thoroughly chuffed when said former winners do well elsewhere. I've been signed up for the New Writing North newsletter for a while now and seen various updates, but they could seem like bald marketing 'hey look, this writer we tipped a couple of years ago has done well. Aren't we clever for being ahead of the curve' - once you've heard Claire Malcolm in person, enthusing so sincerely, you know it's not like that at all.
Practically speaking, there were plenty of tips on making an application, but actually they're quite laid back about it. Reading the rules in the past and finding there are no specific guidelines I've wondered if it's something 'insiders' somehow know, and I'm going to reveal my ignorance if I genuinely do my own thing, but no, they're just not that precious about things like word count, or what you feel the money would best be spent on. If the writing's good (and apparently they read extracts/stories before synopses, so a poor synopsis isn't necessarily the end of the road) that's all you've got to worry about. Don't know all the technicalities of script formatting? Fine, that's part of what the award would help you with.
All in all, a reassuring experience and after 2 years where I wavered over applying and then decided against it, the 2016 awards might be the batch where I actually send something in. Applications open next month.