'Laughing at everyday disasters': Helen Fielding launches Bridget Jones Prize for Northern comedy writers
Morley-born author Helen Fielding has teamed up with New Writing North to launch a major new comedy writing award - challenging unpublished Northern writers to submit their funniest 1,000 words for a chance to win £2,000 and professional industry backing
Bridget Jones creator Helen Fielding is launching a new writing prize to discover and champion the next generation of hilarious, un-agented comedy voices across the North of England.
Managed by Newcastle-based writing charity New Writing North as part of the prestigious Northern Writers’ Awards, the Bridget Jones Prize for Northern Comedy Writing will run annually for three years.
The competition asks unrepresented writers living in the North to submit a standalone, first-person piece of prose up to 1,000 words long - a direct nod to the iconic 1,000-word diary entries that first brought Bridget Jones to life in The Independent back in the mid-1990s.
The winner will receive a £2,000 cash prize, a dedicated writing support session with Fielding’s literary agency Aitken Alexander Associates, and a bespoke writer support package from New Writing North, with a runner-up receiving £1,000.
"Bringing the Fancy Down to Earth"
Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post about what inspired her to establish the prize, Yorkshire-born Helen explained that her legendary character’s comic style was forged directly in the everyday wit of her home county.
"The heart of the comedy in Bridget Jones came from the everyday humour of people around me when I was growing up in Yorkshire, bringing the fancy down to earth, laughing together at everyday disasters," Helen says.
"Personally, I find the everyday tone and wit of Northern people consistently funny. This prize is not for published writers or writers who have agents, but for people going around their normal lives being quietly hilarious.
Helen continues: "A lot of Bridget’s jokes stem from the jokes I enjoyed most growing up - laughing at debacles. Bridget’s unfortunate Blue Soup debacle, for example, happened because she got too fancy and decided to make vichyssoise.
“She had to tie vegetables together with string, but she only had blue string and thought 'Oh, sod it, it’ll be fine', and poured cream in without looking. If she’d just opened a tin of tomato soup, none of this would have happened!"
Helen credits her comic sensibility to iconic Northern performers including Victoria Wood, Les Dawson, Morecambe and Wise, Thora Hird, and Alan Bennett.
"For me, Northern humour speaks to a sense of community," she adds. "There was a warmth, kindness, and emotional honesty about it. No one was trying to be perfect. We were laughing together at our own shortcomings and things we found ridiculous or pretentious elsewhere."
Advice for Aspiring Northern Writers
For anyone hesitating to pick up a pen or open a blank document, Helen offers simple, practical advice passed down from her own early days as a writer.
"The best advice I ever had about writing was: 'write as if you’re writing a letter to a friend,'" Helen says.
"I grew up in Morley next to a textile mill and I found the idiosyncrasy of people’s use of words and the point of view they processed everyday life was very funny and precise. I remember my Mum - who had been a school cookery teacher in Yorkshire - taking a bite of some elaborate profiteroles in a fancy restaurant and saying, 'Well, if I’d made these, I’d have considered them a failure.
“I’d have thrown them away and opened a tin of pears.' Classic!”
Helen reveals, however: "If you know someone who’s just naturally funny, or you’re naturally funny, just start writing a diary, the story of your day, or a little story that happened which made you laugh. Just get on and write it down, show it to your friends, pick the funniest bits, and start knocking it into shape."
And as for the strict 1,000-word limit?
"When I was writing the Bridget column, I took pride in ending at exactly 1,000 words - a bit like filling up the car with petrol and making it stop at exactly twenty quid," Helen laughs.
"You won’t be punished if it’s shorter, but you will be punished if it’s too long, so keep it tight!"
How to enter?
The Bridget Jones Prize for Northern Comedy Writing is completely free to enter and open to unpublished, un-agented writers aged 18 and over living in the North of England. To take part, entrants are invited to submit a standalone, first-person piece of prose up to 1,000 words long.
The winning writer will receive a £2,000 cash prize alongside professional industry mentoring, while the runner-up will receive £1,000.
Submissions officially open on November 23 and close on February 1.
To review the full guidelines and submit your entry, visit the official New Writing North website.