JUDGES IN 2002
Pat Barker (novelist)
Helen Dunmore (novelist and poet)
Peter Kemp (literary critic, The Sunday Times)
Andrew Motion (the Poet Laureate)
Jo Shapcott (poet)
Panel chaired by Mark Robinson
(head of arts, Arts Council England, North East)

JUDGES IN 2003
David Almond (novelist)
Simon Armitage (poet and novelist)
Robert McCrum (literary editor, The Observer)
Val McDermid (novelist)
Jackie Kay (poet and novelist)
Panel chaired by Fiona Ellis
(director, Northern Rock Foundation)

JUDGES IN 2004
Anne Fine (novelist)
Kate Kellaway (critic)
Jack Mapanje (poet)
Blake Morrison (poet and novelist)
Panel chaired by Fiona Ellis
(director, Northern Rock Foundation)

JUDGES IN 2005
Gordon Burn (novelist and critic)
Kathleen Jamie (poet)
Christina Patterson (deputy literary editor, The Independent)
Panel chaired by Fiona Ellis
(director, Northern Rock Foundation)

JUDGES IN 2006
Maggie Gee (novelist and critic)
Don Paterson (poet)
DJ Taylor (writer and critic)
Panel chaired by Fiona Ellis
(director, Northern Rock Foundation)