Helen Fielding Launches £2,000 Bridget Jones Prize for Northern English Comedy Writers
Helen Fielding, known for her work on Bridget Jones's Diary, has launched a new award aimed at unpublished comedic diarists in northern England, collaborating with New Writing North. Participants are required to submit a humorous piece of 1,000 words. The winner will be awarded £2,000 and receive writing assistance from Fielding's agents alongside New Writing North. This prize will be active from 2027 to 2029, with the submission period starting on 23 November 2026 and ending on 1 February 2027. The announcement of the winner will take place during the Northern Writers' Awards in Newcastle. The competition is open only to writers lacking an agent or prior publication experience. Fielding highlighted the influence of figures such as Victoria Wood and Alan Bennett, stressing the importance of creating opportunities in the north.
Key facts
- Helen Fielding has launched the Bridget Jones Prize with charity New Writing North
- The award goes to the funniest 1,000-word piece of first-person writing by an unpublished, unagented writer based in the north of England
- The winner receives £2,000 plus writing support from Fielding's literary agents and New Writing North
- The prize runs for an initial three years, from 2027 to 2029
- Submissions open 23 November 2026 and close 1 February 2027
- The winner will be announced at the Northern Writers' Awards ceremony in Newcastle next summer and presented the award by Fielding
- Fielding said writing opportunities in the UK are "very uneven", with more in the south than the north where she grew up
- Bridget's diary column first appeared in the Independent in 1995 and became a bestselling 1996 novel, followed by sequels and films starring Renée Zellweger
Entities
Artists
- Helen Fielding
- Renée Zellweger
- Victoria Wood
- Alan Bennett
- Morecambe and Wise
- Will Mackie
Institutions
- New Writing North
- Northern Writers' Awards
- Independent
- BBC
Locations
- West Yorkshire
- Yorkshire
- England
- United Kingdom
- Newcastle
- London