The Alfred Bradley Bursary Award 2021

BBC Writersroom North

Published: 13 December 2021

We are delighted to announce that Paul Jones is the 2021 Winner of the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award with BBC Radio Drama North.

Listen to his winning play ‘Patterdale’ now on BBC Sounds

From 342 submissions, the finalists were:

Jilly Sumsion
Emilie Robson (Special commendation)
Houmi Miura
Paul Jones (Winner)
Duncan MacInnes

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 BBC Radio Drama producer and the opportunity to gain a BBC Radio 4 drama commission.

The winner of the 2021 Award, Paul Jones said:

“I'm very pleased and proud to have won the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award and am looking forward to hearing Patterdale performed. Thank you to the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award judges and to Lorna Newman and Jessica Mitic for their support in its development.”

Alison Hindell, Commissioning Head of Radio 4 Drama said:

“Radio 4 is delighted to continue supporting this important award recognising the talents of new writers in the North of England. We look forward to hearing Paul’s play on the radio next year and to watching his future progression.”

The Award was established in 1992 to commemorate the life and work of Alfred Bradley, the distinguished BBC Radio Drama Producer. Previous winners include Lee Hall, Peter Straughan, Cat Jones, Furquan Akhtar and most recently Alex Clarke.