Bridport Arts Centre is an

arts centre An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues fo ...

Bridport Bridport is a market town and civil parish in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the River Asker, Asker. Its origins are Anglo-Saxons, Saxon and it has a long history as a ...

, Dorset, England. Founded in 1973, it is housed in and around a 19th-century, Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, formerly known as the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel. The complex includes the Marlow Theatre, the Allsop Gallery and a cinema. The centre runs the Bridport Prize, an international literary competition. Annual awards are made in four categories: short stories, poetry,

flash fiction Flash fiction is a brief fictional narrative that still offers character and plot development. Identified varieties, many of them defined by word count, include the For sale: baby shoes, never worn, six-word story; the 280-character story (also kn ...

and

first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

. The winners are announced during the Bridport Open Book Festival. The centre also runs the From Page to Screen Festival, an annual

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

celebrating

literary adaptation Literary adaptation is the process of adapting a literary work (e.g. a novel, short story, poem) into another genre or medium, such as a film, stage play, video game, or other literary genre, such as a graphic novel, while still maintaining them ...

History

The

Methodist chapel Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

was designed by the architect

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada * James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Queb ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. It was built in 1838, and opened on 28 November of that year. The front

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

, having four giant Doric

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s with

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

and

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

, originally had "Wesleyan Methodist Chapel" written on its

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

. It is a Grade II listed building. The arts centre was founded in 1973, with Peggy Chapman-Andrews (1921–2013) playing a leading role in its establishment. The chapel was converted into the Marlow Theatre, with a seating capacity of 200. The chapel's adjacent schoolroom was converted into the Allsop Gallery, an exhibition space named after

Kenneth Allsop Kenneth Allsop (29 January 1920 – 23 May 1973) was a British broadcaster, author and naturalist. Early life Allsop was born on 29 January 1920 in Holbeck, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire. He was married in St Peter's Church, Ealing, in ...

. In February 2016,

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...

agreed to provide a grant of £344,200 to renovate the Marlow Theatre and other facilities, subject to the centre raising a further £230,000. The centre re-opened in September 2016, after renovations costing £444,000.

Bridport Prize

The Bridport Prize International Creative Writing Competition was founded in 1973 by Peggy Chapman-Andrews, originally as a fund-raising scheme for the new arts centre. Levels of international participation soon rose.

Fay Weldon Fay Weldon (born Franklin Birkinshaw; 22 September 1931 – 4 January 2023) was an English author, essayist and playwright. Over the course of her 55-year writing career, she published 31 novels, including ''Puffball'' (1980), '' The Cloning o ...

became Patron in 2006. There were originally two categories, poetry and short stories. In 2010 a new category, flash fiction, was added. In 2014, the Peggy Chapman-Andrews first novel award was added. The winners are announced during a

literary festival A literary festival, also known as a book festival or writers' festival, is a regular gathering of writers and readers, typically on an annual basis in a particular city. A literary festival usually features a variety of presentations and readings ...

, the Bridport Open Book Festival, which is run by the centre in the autumn. Each year's top four poems are entered for the

Forward Prizes for Poetry The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...

, while the top 13 stories (if British) are entered for the

BBC National Short Story Award The BBC National Short Story Award (known as the National Short Story Award in 2006 and 2007) has been described as "one of the most prestigious wardsfor a single short story" and the richest prize in the world for a single short story. It is an ...

and the

Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award The Sunday Times Short Story Award, also known as the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award and later the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award, was a British literary award for a single short story open to any novelist or short story writer from ...

. The centre runs the From Page to Screen Festival, celebrating adaptations of books to film, in the spring.

References

External links

*
Bridport Prize/From Page to Screen Festival
{{coord, 50, 43, 59, N, 2, 45, 28, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Bridport Theatres in Dorset Arts centres in England Grade II listed buildings in Dorset Georgian architecture in England Buildings and structures completed in 1838