WRITERS in the North-East are to benefit from a new literary award which will fund them for three years.

Three writers will have an equal share of the £180,000 from the Northern Rock Foundation Writer Award.

The writers will be able to concentrate on new work while having an income for a fixed period, with the first winner being announced in April. Two more successful writers will be announced in subsequent years.

Although big-name writers can earn hundreds of thousands of pounds in advances from publishers, most authors survive on a fraction of that.

The awards are open to writers of any genre who have been living in Teesside, County Durham, Northumberland, Tyneside and Wearside for the past three years