The North Star Wins Contract to be Published as a Novel

The epic Sunderland fantasy story “The North Star”, currently in development as a film, has won a contract to be published as a novel.

The title, which depicts the tale of Sunderland girl Sophie Scott in her journey to become legendary Northumbrian hero “The North Star” was written by Sunderland born author T.J Oswald, who had also written its respective screenplay adaptation.

The Book version, which had been in development since 2021 and previously had a concept version shown on SGM, was finally completed in April this year before being submitted to publishers, standing at 266 pages.

One London based publishing company who evaluated the work, described it as a “young adult novel” which is “well-written with a consistent and absorbing narrative” and will offer a provisional contract. While there is no confirmation an agreement will be reached, it nonetheless signifies the book has a path to formal publishing.

Irrespectively, the North Star is a landmark original work which is the first ever story of its kind to conceive a Sunderland based hero and fantasy saga, which draws heavily on local folklore, mythology and culture.

A deal to develop a cinematic version was signed with the Southwick based New Enterprise Studios in February, which remains in the early stages. The project will be marketed at the Cannes Film Festival next week.