Rosemarie Hudson of BlackAmber Books conceived of the competition as a means of discovering the best writing emerging from a vibrant new generation, giving a platform to its voice and rewarding its creativity. She found immediate support from Bradford 2008. Lord Puttnam, introducing the competition, said: 'Bradford's bid to be Capital of Culture is about listening to and respecting the many different views that exist in the world. It's a passion we share with BlackAmber and this collaborative competition is a truly creative way of hearing the voices of a younger generation.' Lord Puttnam, himself a movie producer for some 30 years, went on to stress the importance of finding new and vivid British scriptwriting. The competition offers tv/film/radio script as one category alongside poetry, short story, feature and email.

The theme of the competition is 'One Landscape Many Views' after the painting by David Hockney.

NAWE urges all writers visiting schools and other community settings to promote the competition. All shortlisted writers will come together for writing workshops organized by NAWE in March 2003. The same evening short-listed candidates will be invited to attend an awards ceremony in Bradford where the winners will be announced. There will be one winner from each category. Winners will each receive a laptop computer.

Full details of the competition are on the blackamber.com website and also listed under NAWE's events & opportunities.

The Bradford Embassy is open today (19/9/02) at the Hilton Hotel, Trafalgar.