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Sara Parker introduces a new generation of student feature makers, all finalists and winners of the Charles Parker Prize 2024 – set up in memory of her father.

The annual Charles Parker Prize celebrates a new generation of audio producers and storytellers - open to anyone studying radio and audio at Higher or Further Education and other media courses across the country.

Broadcast through the 1950s and 60s, along with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, Charles Parker's series known as the 'Radio Ballads' left a lasting legacy on the landscape of radio storytelling; by interweaving original musical composition with remote interview recordings, and with a focus on highlighting working class voices - a practice until then unheard on Â鶹ԼÅÄ radio.

Charles’ daughter Sara Parker, herself an award-winning radio producer, hears from this year's finalists and plays extracts from their features as our ten new storytellers share their experience in creating their celebrated audio features.

There are extracts from the prize-winning features of; Grace Reeve, Libby Liburd, Evan Green, Naomi Bloomstein and Amy Bartlett, as well as the five other nominees; Anna de Wolfe Evans, James Bonney, Irene Dani, Chantal Romain and Darya Kalsi.

You can hear the five winners’ work in full in the series ‘New Storytellers’ on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4 this week and on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Sounds along with finalist Anna de Wolfe’s ‘A Recipe for Recovery’.

Producer: Talia Augustidis (Gold Winner of the Charles Parker Prize 2024)

Made for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4 Extra by Soundscape productions.