Helen Fielding, author of Bridget Jones’s Diary, has established a new writing prize in partnership with New Writing North to identify comedic talent among unpublished writers in northern England. The initiative addresses what Fielding describes as uneven opportunities for writers across the United Kingdom, with significantly more support available in southern regions compared to the north where she grew up.
The Bridget Jones Prize will award £2,000 and a comprehensive support package to the winner, who will be selected based on submitting the funniest 1,000-word piece of first-person writing. The prize is designated specifically for unpublished writers without literary representation currently residing in northern England and will operate for an initial three-year period.
Submissions will be accepted from November 23, 2026 through February 1, 2027. The winning entry will be announced at the Northern Writers’ Awards ceremony in Newcastle during the following summer, with Fielding presenting the award personally. This represents the first time the Northern Writers’ Awards program has featured a competition exclusively dedicated to comedy writing.
Fielding’s original Bridget Jones material began as a newspaper column published by the Independent before becoming a bestselling novel in 1996 and subsequently spawning multiple sequels and film adaptations. The author has credited her comedy influences and observations from growing up in Yorkshire as foundational to the work. According to New Writing North representatives, Fielding’s involvement brings particular credibility to identifying emerging comic voices in the region.
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