Alfred Bradley Bursary Award: (left to right) Alex Clarke (winner) and Jill O'Halloran (runner-up)
We are delighted to announce that Alex Clarke is the 2019 Winner of the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award with Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Drama North.
From 279 submissions, the finalists were:
Geraldine Lang
Mandip Dhesi
Jill O’Halloran (Runner Up)
Stephen Collins
Alex Clarke (Winner)
The Alfred Bradley Bursary Award is a £5000 award for a Northern writer who is new to radio. The winner also gets a 12 month mentorship with a Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Drama producer and the opportunity to gain a Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 drama commission.
The winner of the 2019 Award, Alex Clarke said:
“I didn’t expect to win. I dared not dream it, just in case I broke my own heart. As it sinks in it feels magnificent, like space opening up and expanding before me. I guess it’s the feeling of freedom. The shape of my life has changed overnight – the bursary means I can focus on writing and deepening my craft further with the help of exceptionally talented people at the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ. I also get to tell a story to the world and this is no easy task for an autistic like me (who has selective mutism) I don’t often get to speak, let alone tell a story. So this is my personal fairy-tale come true. I cannot thank my mentor Nadia Molinari, the judges, and the family enough. I’m still lost for words. But I’m looking forward to the year ahead, feeling freer than ever before.”
The Runner-Up, Jill O'Halloran said:
“I am shocked, thrilled and incredibly honoured to be the runner-up in the Alfred Bradley Award. Like many other people, competitions like Alfred Bradley have been my only chance to break into writing. It’s a huge leap of faith to commit a story to paper and then have it judged by other people and so I am pleased I finished my script and pressed the submit button. Many congratulations to everyone else who did the same and entered the Alfred Bradley Award and of course, huge congratulations to the winner. “
The Award was established in 1992 to commemorate the life and work of Alfred Bradley, the distinguished Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Drama Producer. Previous winners include Lee Hall, Peter Straughan, Cat Jones, Furquan Akhtar and most recently Piers Black.
Find out about previous winners of the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award
Read about the previous winner, Piers Black, and what happened next