Luke Worthy shortllisted for the Northern Debut Award for Poetry

A huge congratulations to Hive poet and Sheffield Young Writer alumnus Luke Worthy, whose collection On What Could Sting has been shortlisted in the Northern Debut Award for Poetry in the 2025 Northern Writers Award.

Judges Kathleen Jamie and Alycia Pirmohamed read and discussed the collection with interest and were impressed with its language use and sense of rhythm. The title poem was especially praised.

More about the Northern Writers Award
Established in 2000 by New Writing North, the Northern Writers’ Awards supports work-in-progress by new, emerging and established writers across the North of England. The Awards support writers creatively as they develop their work towards publication, as well as helping them to progress professionally and navigate their way through the publishing industry.

The awards support both new and established writers to develop their work towards publication and to progress their careers as writers. For new writers, winning a Northern Writers’ Award can help to connect you to the publishing industry and to develop your work towards publication; for established writers, awards can help to buy time to write to support the development of new work and offer creative opportunities. With high-profile literary judges and support and interest from across the publishing industry, the awards are now recognised nationally as a major talent-spotting programme that identifies and supports great writing and writers. Browse our previous winners to see the published work that the awards have supported.

The Northern Writers’ Awards are produced by New Writing North and supported by Northumbria University, Arts Council England and a range of partners. For more information: www.newwritingnorth.com