The Aporia · Author Helen Fielding launches award to find the next Bridget Jones's Diary

Helen Fielding, author of Bridget Jones’s Diary, has launched a new prize called the Bridget Jones Prize in collaboration with New Writing North. The award aims to find humorous diary-style writing from unpublished authors based in the north of England and will offer a £2,000 prize along with literary support. Submissions for the first round open on November 23, 2026, closing February 1, 2027. Fielding emphasizes that opportunities for writers are uneven across the UK, particularly favoring southern regions over the north where she grew up.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-21, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

Story summary

Helen Fielding, author of Bridget Jones's Diary, has launched a new prize called the Bridget Jones Prize aimed at discovering funny diary writers from the north of England. The initiative, set to run for three years starting in 2027, is intended to address the uneven distribution of writing opportunities across the UK, with Fielding noting that there are more opportunities in the south than in her home region of the north.

The winner will receive a £2,000 prize and additional support from Fielding's literary agents along with New Writing North, a charity focused on promoting new writing. The award is open to entries of up to 1,000 words written in the first person, seeking the funniest submission.

Fielding spoke about this at an event for the Independent newspaper, which originally published Bridget's diary in 1995 and later helped it become a best-selling novel. The prize aims to provide more opportunities specifically for writers based in northern England, particularly focusing on Yorkshire where Fielding grew up.

Written for “Helen Fielding Award Launch” on 2026-10-21, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

📰 Helen Fielding Award Launch

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🔮 The award will go to the person who submits the funniest 1,000-word piece of first-person writing.

2026-10-21 · assertive framing · Author Helen Fielding launches award to find the next Bridget Jones's Diary

🔮 Speaking on Paloma Faith's podcast Mad, Sad and Bad, the 58-year-old described suffering from memory loss while recovering from an operation to remove a benign brain tumour in 2024. "After I'd had my brain tumour taken out, I had advanced Alzheimer's, so I couldn't remember anything," the former Big Brother host told singer and Celebrity Traitors star Faith.

2026-10-14 · assertive framing · Davina McCall says she had 'advanced Alzheimer's' symptoms after brain surgery

🔮 - Published The BBC has announced it will be cutting a raft of Radio 4 programmes including the long-running consumer and social affairs show You and Yours.

2026-10-08 · assertive framing · BBC to cut raft of Radio 4 programmes including You and Yours

🔮 "I felt that he could see right through me," she told Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in a 2013 interview.

2026-10-07 · assertive framing · Oscar-winning actress Eva Marie Saint dies aged 102

🔮 "I would never normally do that.

2026-10-02 · assertive framing · Alison Hammond has heart check-up in hospital after leaving TV's This Morning

🔮 Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the Traitors castle will welcome 21 new celebrities on Thursday, as a group of famous "faithfuls" attempts to work out which among them are - and perhaps, always have been - "traitors", secretly murdering contestants each night.

2026-09-26 · mixed framing · Celebrity Traitors 2 cast: Who are this year's 'big dogs' and dark horses?

🔮 Jimmy Mulville, the co-founder of Hat Trick Productions which makes Have I Got News For You, told the same newspaper he could understand the corporation's predicament.

2026-09-21 · assertive framing · BBC removes 11 Mitchell and Webb comedy sketches from iPlayer

🔮 She will also be remembered for her tireless work supporting mental health charities.

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2026-09-18 · assertive framing · Oasis will not headline Glastonbury 2027, organiser Emily Eavis confirms

🔮 Culkin remembered her as "our mom", and "like a good mom, she always showed up when I asked her to". Referring to the plot of the Home Alone films, he joked: "She may have forgotten me... twice!

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 15 articles by Paul Glynn →

- Published Bridget Jones author Helen Fielding has launched a new prize aimed at discovering funny diary writers from the north of England, saying opportunities across the UK are "very uneven". asserted

opportunities → publish → UK

West Yorkshire-born Fielding, who penned Bridget's famous diary as well co-writing the film adaptations, has set up the Bridget Jones Prize, external with charity New Writing North. asserted

who → bear → North

The award will go to the person who submits the funniest 1,000-word piece of first-person writing. asserted

who → go → writing

Speaking at an event for the Independent, which first published Bridget's diary in 1995, Fielding said the spread of opportunity for writing in the UK is "very uneven", adding: "There's much more opportunity in the south than in the north, where I grew up." The winner of the new prize - set to run for an initial three years from 2027 to 2029 - will receive a £2,000 prize and a package of writing support from Fielding's literary agents and New Writing North. asserted

winner → speak → agents

Fielding's original newspaper column went on to be published as a best-selling novel titled Bridget Jones's Diary in 1996. asserted

column → go → 1996

It spawned several sequels and hit movie adaptations starring Renée Zellweger as the endearingly chaotic and lovelorn thirty-something diarist. asserted

It → spawn → diarist

In a statement announcing the prize, external, Fielding noted how the "comedy heart" of Bridget's story came from the "everyday humour of people around me when growing up in Yorkshire: laughing together at our mess-ups; bringing the fancy and pretentious down to earth". asserted

heart → announce → earth

"There are lots of famous northern comics," said the writer, whose own work was inspired by the likes of Victoria Wood, Alan Bennett and Morecambe and Wise. asserted

work → be → Wood

"But this prize is for the comic voices of people who aren't famous: just living their lives being quietly hilarious." asserted

who → live → lives

The Bridget Jones Prize will be awarded to an unpublished writer, without an agent, based in the north of England as part of New Writing North's Northern Writers' Awards. asserted

Prize → award → Awards

The winner will be announced at the Northern Writers' Awards ceremony in Newcastle next summer, and will be presented with the award by Fielding. asserted

winner → announce → Fielding

Will Mackie from New Writing North said: "This is the first time the Northern Writers' Awards have featured an award exclusively for comedy writing. asserted

Awards → say → writing

"There is no-one more fitting to identify an original comedy voice than Helen, who created one of the nation's most beloved comic characters of the last 30 years." asserted

who → be → years

Author Helen Fielding launches award to find the next Bridget Jones's Diary

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