The Charles Parker Prize for Student Radio Features, 2008
The Centre for Broadcasting History Research, Bournemouth Media School, Bournemouth University, in association with BBC Radio and the Charles Parker Archive at Birmingham Central Library, has established the Charles Parker Prize for Student Radio Features in memory of the world-famous radio features producer, creator – with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger - of The Radio Ballads, who was born in Bournemouth in 1919. The prize consists of a two week work placement (unpaid) with the BBC Radio Documentaries Unit, and a cheque for £500. (Funded by the Centre for Broadcasting History Research, Bournemouth Media School .)
The award will be made to the student entry who, in the view of the judges, represents the most creative use of radio in the making of a radio feature. Submissions should not exceed 10 minutes in length; extracts of longer programmes are permissible, in which case a brief written rationale for the programme containing an overall synopsis should be included. Submissions must be the original work of the student. Co-productions cannot be accepted.
The judges for the 2008 Award were:
- Simon Elmes, Creative Director, BBC Radio Documentaries and Features
- Clare McGinn, Editor, Network Radio, BBC Bristol
- Miranda Sawyer, Radio Critic for The Observer
Charles Parker Prize 2008, Winner
This year’s winner was Matthew Rogers of University College Falmouth for his piece "A long commute" telling the story of immigrant land-workers from Eastern Europe and their lives in the UK.
Judges were united in their praise of this sensitive and sophisticated programme saying "touching stories, beautifully translated", "a snapshot of lives we over-report but don’t really know".
You can listen to "A long commute" here and the prizegiving here.
Future Prizes
We will announce details of the 2009 competition here later.
Previous winners
2007
Katie Burningham for Lieutenant Pigeon a five minute documentary on the "Save the Trafalgar Square Pigeons", a campaign group formed in 2000 to challenge the ban on feeding pigeons in the Square and centres primarily upon the figure of a ex-soldier and homeless man called Tony, aka Lieutenant Pigeon.
The jurors described Katie’s piece as "compassionate but subtle. This sophisticated piece of radio opens up a little corner of the world, congratulations to Katie for her enterprise and expertise!"
Katie said "I was thrilled that a piece about more esoteric members of society was recognised by the judges. Winning this award was the best way of giving my thanks to the people who spared their time to take part in the feature."
You can listen to the piece here
The 2007 award was judged by Julian May, Senior Producer, BBC Documentaries, Paul Donovan of the Sunday Times and Simon Elmes, Creative Director, BBC Documentaries.
2006
Ruth-Anne Lynch for Family Ties. She set out to produce a piece about a reunion between her mother and a previously unknown sister, in Guyana. When her father became ill, however, the piece changed and Ruth-Anne carried on recording as her family dealt with the situation.
The jurors said "The voices and personalities were strong and arresting - it was quite literally a slice of life, moving and amusing. The complete freshness of the programme and its sheer zest were what took my imagination."
The 2006 award was judged by Simon Elmes, the BBC’s Head of Radio Documentaries and Features, Dr. Piers Plowright, Radio Features Producer and Jane Anderson, Radio Editor, Radio Times.
2005
Mark Williams for Inside Out. Mark discovered radio while serving a sentence at Wandsworth Prison. Inside Out is an audio diary of his last hours before release, and his first minutes as a free man. It chronicles his emotions as he awaits his moment of freedom, the euphoria which follows it and the mixed feelings on encountering the outside world again.
The Jurors praised the power of the piece, "This was an amazing piece of work, technically assured, beautifully assembled, with an unbeatable mix of actuality and personal confessional."
Receiving the award, Mark said that making Inside Out and receiving the prize had changed his life, and would continue to do so.
The 2005 award was judged by Gillian Reynolds, Sara Parker (Charles Parker’s daughter, and an eminent features producer in her own right) and Simon Elmes, Head of Documentaries and Features, BBC Radio.
If you would like to receive more details of the Charles Parker Award for Student Radio Features, and/or other Centre events, please send your name, address and email to:
| Professor Sean Street | |
| The Media School Bournemouth University Weymouth House Talbot Campus Poole Dorset, BH12 5BB |
Email: sstreet@bournemouth.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0)1202 965747 |
News
| 'Family Ties' Takes Parker Prize | |
| Ruth-Anne Lynch wins with her engaging radio piece Read more... | |
