Tinniswood Award 2021 open for entries

Radio scriptwriters with works broadcast between 1 October 2019 and 31 October 2020 are invited to send in their entries for the 2021 Tinniswood Award. Nominations for the ALCS-sponsored award are open until 4 October 2020.

The Tinniswood Award is presented annually to the best original audio drama script of the year. The award was established by the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) and Society of Authors to celebrate and encourage high standards in audio drama, and to perpetuate the memory of the writer Peter Tinniswood. ALCS is pleased to once again be the sponsor for this award.

At the last BBC Radio Drama Awards, we were delighted to see Ian Martin win for The Hartlepool Spy (produced by Sam Ward, BBC Radio 4). You can read Ian’s interview for our My Writing Living series here, in which he speaks about winning the 2019 award.

ELIGIBILITY

Any audio drama script first broadcast or made available online within the UK by a UK-based producer during the period 1 October 2019 to 31 October 2020 is eligible for entry. The work must be an original piece for audio as broadcast and may also include the first episode from an original series or serial. When submitting 15-minute episodes from a series or serial we will require consecutive episodes (including the first episode) to make up at least 45 minutes. The judges reserve the right to call in the subsequent episodes if required. Plays lasting 30-minutes are also welcome, provided that they were stand-alone and that characters and situations are original to the writer.

An adaptation for radio of a piece commissioned for any other medium like stage, television, film, novel, poem or a short story will not be eligible.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY

Submissions will be accepted from any party (producer, broadcasting organisation, writer, agent, etc) by email to kate@writersguild.org.uk, and must include all of the following:

  • a completed entry form;
  • a PDF of the final studio script;
  • a synopsis and author biography (each no more than 150 words).

Entries are limited to one script per writer.

PRESENTATION

The Tinniswood Award is normally presented at the BBC Audio Awards, which is scheduled for 31 January 2021, subject to rules governing the COVID-19 pandemic (the date or an alternative will be confirmed and announced towards the end of the year).

If you have any questions, please contact: Kate Glasspool (WGGB) kate@writersguild.org.uk