Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ

We're so pleased to announce our Voices 2026 cohort from the North and Midlands.

These thirteen writers have spent the last six months taking part in workshops and attending masterclasses with industry speakers, developing their craft and expanding their knowledge. Alongside this, they've been working with us to create an original TV pilot outline, taking their ideas from concept to outline.

This group have all come from different writing backgrounds, each bringing a unique voice and perspective to storytelling for screen. Along the way they've shared advice, encouragement and the kinds of creative discoveries that stay with you – from one writer reassuring another who was seeking representation that, "you can't say the wrong thing to the right person", to finding focus by simply putting on a writing hat, and discovering the power of ‘body doubling’ as a way to write alongside one another and stay motivated.

We're so excited to see what they do next with their talent, generosity and passion for storytelling.

Alice Ramsey (Commissioning Executive for Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ Drama) and Esther Jackson-Burton (Development Producer, Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ Writers)

ALIYAH BEGUM

Aliyah Begum is a writer and poet from Birmingham. She has presented at the UN Climate Change Conference, Birmingham Literature Festival and on Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ Bitesize, with her writing published in AND OTHER POEMS, MAGMA AND POETRY LONDON. She is a former Birmingham Young Poet Laureate and Young Critic for the T.S. Eliot Prize. 

In 2024, Aliyah participated in Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ Writers’ Write Across Birmingham and the Black Country scheme, working on a pitch document for a crime drama centred on the infamous Number 11 bus route. This year, she developed a short play for Story Engine, a stage-to-screen scratch night in Birmingham, exploring maternity leave and corporate rivalry set during a commute at New Street Station. Having taken part in Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ Voices, Aliyah is excited to continue to write stories inspired by her city and its endlessly surprising people. 

ETHAN DEAN-RICHARDS

Ethan Dean-Richards is a working-class scriptwriter from Birmingham. He worked for five years as a journalist in Taipei, focusing on international relations and climate politics, and these are key themes in his work.  

His award-winning short film DESPICABLE NIGHTS IN HEAVEN starring Sukant Goel is touring international film festivals in 2026. His dark comedy snooker play THE FINAL FRAME OF JOE JOYCE'S LIFE is set for an R&D tour this Autumn. His eco-crime feature SUN MOON DEAD is currently in development in Taiwan and his comedy horror feature THE RIGHTEOUS REVENGE OF THE RED RIGHT HAND is in development in India.  

He has developed NINE MEALS FROM ANARCHY, an eco-thriller series about end of the world preppers, on the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ Voices scheme.  

He is actively seeking representation for TV and film scripts.

JADE FRANKS

Jade Franks is a writer, actor, and director from Merseyside with a background in arts education and outreach. 

In 2025, Jade achieved widespread recognition with her sell-out debut solo show, EAT THE RICH (BUT MAYBE NOT ME MATES X), which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. 

The production received critical acclaim and won multiple awards, including The Scotsman's Fringe First Award, The Holden Street Theatre Edinburgh Fringe Award, and The Filipa Bragança Award. 

JAMAL GERALD

Jamal Gerald is an artist and writer based in Leeds. His work is conversational, unapologetic, and provocative, with a social message. He has carried out research in Montserrat and Trinidad and Tobago with support from Arts Council England, and in 2023 undertook an artist residency with RISCO festival in São Paulo, Brazil. Jamal’s work has been presented at Kampnagel, SPILL Festival, the Royal Court, New Performance Turku, Battersea Arts Centre, and the Barbican. 

His writing has been published by Oberon, Methuen Drama, and the Live Art Development Agency. He is a recipient of the Jerwood Arts’ Live Work Fund (2021) and the Another Route Fellowship (2022) and took part in the Channel 4 New Writers Scheme (2024/25).   

Jamal is currently seeking representation.

VICTORIA GIMBY

Victoria Gimby is an award-winning writer and director from Durham, working across stage and screen. A graduate of Mountview (BA) and RADA (MA), she specialises in new writing and adaptation with a slate of film and television projects in development. These include a series of short films STAGES staring Lesley Joseph, Lemar and Kevin Kennedy, and tv series THE KING OF THE NORTH as part of Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ Voices. 

Previously shortlisted for Northern Writer of the Year, and winner of the LOST One Act Festival for her play BY VIRTUE FALL, other writing credits include Butter (Winner of Outstanding New Work at VAULT Festival), Zelda, Pieces of Eight, and Gingerline’s immersive experience THE GRAND EXPEDITION.  

This year Victoria has three productions premiering: her adaptation of FRANKENSTEIN for BYMT at Greenwich Theatre; THE GAP, a play inspired by the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree, presented as part of Francesca Moody’s Shedinburgh and at the Young Vic; and her adaptation of EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE (venue TBC). 

Alongside her writing,  Victoria developed four MA programmes at Leeds Conservatoire specialising in dramaturgy and playwriting and is currently Resident Director on Hadestown and Associate Director on Beetlejuice in the West End. 

She is seeking screenwriting representation.

HANNAH JONES

Hannah Jones is a Scouse, working-class, intersex, trans actor and writer. She recently starred as Sasha in the critically acclaimed Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ series WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR A GIRL.

As a writer, she has an original psychosexual political drama in development with Hera Pictures, alongside a pilot titled STRAIGHT DROP, set in a world where drug dealing and queer sex work collide. 

She recently completed the Gatecrashers BFI Writers Lab with her feature BENEATH THE SURFACE, a queer mythical romantic thriller, and has been awarded the OKRA bursary as well as development finance and writing support for thriller projects. 

She is also developing TO DIE FOR, a dark comedy-drama about a dating app CEO whose relentless pursuit of validation triggers a mysterious curse that begins to unravel her life. 

Her work sits at the intersection of desire, power and identity, often exploring systems of control and the characters who fall through their cracks.

She was recently recognised as an ELLE Rising Star in TV and Film and received the DIGITAL SPY - Rising Star Award.

JOE JONES

Joe Jones is a 26-year-old screenwriter from Manchester. A graduate of the LSE and University of Manchester, his work blends social realism, prestige drama and Northern humour. He was selected from over 600 applications as one of four participants on the NFTS X Sony X Left Bank Diverse Writers Development Programme. 

He is currently developing projects with several indies and is seeking representation. 

JORDON SCOTT KENNEDY

Jordon Scott Kennedy is a BAFTA-nominated, working-class writer-director from West Yorkshire. His work is bold, raw and character-driven, rooted in Northern realism with flashes of surrealism and packed with humour. 

His debut feature, SUICIDE KELLY, made on a £10,000 micro-budget, won Best Picture and Best Director at the BAFTA-accredited British Urban Film Festival. His Channel 4 short YOUTHLESS was praised by Jimmy McGovern. 

His latest short, ROCKET FUEL, premiered on Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ Three and earned a BAFTA nomination in the Short Form category, as well as a nomination for Best Short Form at the Broadcast Digital Awards. It screened at Oscar- and BAFTA-qualifying festivals including HollyShorts Film Festival and Leeds International Film Festival, where it won the Yorkshire Short Film Competition. 

He recently completed DYNAMITE DEALER with the BFI and is currently developing original projects with Fable Pictures, Tiger Aspect Productions, Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ Studios and Fully Focused Productions.

CLAIRE ROWLANDS

Claire Rowlands writes dark comedies, offbeat love stories and character-driven drama. 

She was selected for Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ Write Across 2024, the Channel 4 Screenwriting Mentorship programme (2021 & 2022), and most recently for Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ Voices 2026. 

Her comedy script, Not a Mourning Person, was a finalist in the Female Pilot Club Comedy Showcase. 

Claire's coming-of-age drama, is currently in development with a US production company and she's written a romcom that makes an undeniable case for Birmingham as the romantic capital of the world. 

Claire is seeking representation.

ABBY WALKER

Abby Walker is a County Durham writer creating dark, psychological (and occasionally comedic) stories for screen, audio, theatre, and novels. 

For her prose fiction, she won a 2024 Northern Writers Award, was chosen for the 24/25 London Library Emerging Writers Programme, and was the recipient of a Faber Academy scholarship. She has been listed in several writing competitions, including The Stockholm Writer’s Festival Award and Edinburgh Short Story Award. Her story TABLE 4 was published in Dead Ink Books’ crime anthology MOTIVES UNKNOWN (2025). 

For her scripts, she was longlisted for the 2026 Bill Cashmore Award, was the winner of both Live Theatre’s North East Playwriting Young Writer Award, and ClassicsFest Playwriting Competition. She was also chosen for Hooley Theatre’s 2026 Haddaway and Write programme. She was the winner of the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award for her script THE COUNSELLOR, which was broadcast on Radio 4 in March 2026. She is currently being mentored by Quay Street Productions, in partnership with New Writing North.

LAWRENCE WALKER

Lawrence Walker is a Black Country actor-writer whose work lives in the places where the ordinary cracks open and something funny, painful, and a bit magical bleeds through.

A Rose Bruford graduate and alum of the inaugural Little Chicks writers’ group with Abi Morgan, he finishes Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ Voices North & Midlands this year after taking part in Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ Writers Write Across Birmingham and Black Country in 2024.

His writing attempts to narrativise the moments in life where the mundane and the absurd collide, creating characters with the messy humanity and emotional specificity he spent years searching for as an actor.

MARTHA WATSON ALLPRESS

Martha Watson Allpress is a writer and actor from Lincolnshire, now based in South London.

As a playwright, her debut play, PATRICIA GETS READY, received 5 star reviews (The Guardian, The Stage, Broadway World) and her second production, KICK, was staged for a limited run at the Lyric Hammersmith. In 2023 her play, LADY DEALER, premiered to critical acclaim at Paines Plough's Roundabout in Edinburgh before transferring to the Bush Theatre for a London run in 2024. The same year, Martha was announced as the winner of the ATG's Playwrights Prize for an unproduced script. She is currently writing a community piece for the Orange Tree Theatre.

As a screenwriter, Martha's first TV credit was for her episode, BIG WINNERS, of Channel 5's inaugural Play for Today season. She has original series ideas in development with Mam Tor, Red Planet and VAL.

Represented for writing by Amy Sparks at Under New MGMT.

Represented for acting by Alex Sedgley at Curtis Brown.

JOSIE WHITE

Josie White is a Nottingham-based writer, producer and performer whose love of thriller and dark comedy drives her bold, genre-blending storytelling. She champions underrepresented regional voices and examines the socio-economic pressures facing young people today through themes such as class, mental health and social media, crafting stories that are both innovative and poignant. 

Her recent credits include ROTTEN, which toured the UK in spring and autumn 2024 under the direction of Rikki Beadle-Blair MBE; AFTERMATH, a new play in development; LOVE ME OR DIE, a monologue published in Common: An Anthology of Dynamic New Working-Class Monologues (Team Angelica, 2022); and TRAILBLAZERS for Forest School (shared at Hackney Empire in 2021). In 2025, Josie received an Arts Council England Developing Your Creative Practice grant to support her development as a writer, with a focus on Caribbean heritage and female empowerment. She was also part of the Independent Producer Residencies Programme (In Good Company/Derby Theatre, supported by Jerwood Arts) and a member of Fifth Word's 2024–25 Playwrights' Group, facilitated by writer Zodwa Nyoni.