The Richard Imison Award is an award which recognises the best radio drama, generally by a writer new to the industry, and is now awarded as part of the

BBC Audio Drama Awards The BBC Audio Drama Awards is an awards ceremony created by BBC Radio to recognise excellence in the radio industry, in particular in Radio drama, audio dramas. The inaugural awards were presented in 2012 and the ceremony hosted at the BBC Radio ...

. It was established in 1994 and commemorates the life and work of Richard Imison. Richard Imison was Script Editor for BBC Radio Drama from 1963 to 1991. In the thirty years that Imison worked for BBC Radio Drama it was the largest patron of original creative dramatic writing in Britain. In his role as Script Editor no other single individual therefore had as much influence in either the discovery of new talent or the encouragement of established writers such as Edward Albee, Ludmilla Petrushevskaya, Alexander Gelman,

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

and

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

in the production of Drama for this genre. After his death in 1993 the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

established the Imison Award in recognition of Imison's enduring influence on the development of high quality dramatic writing. Submissions for the award must consist of a completed nomination form as well as three copies of the writer's original script and recording of the broadcast. Further copies may be requested if the work is short-listed. Further details can be found on the Society of Authors website.

List of prize winners

The prize winners * 2024: ''Benny & Hitch'' by Andrew McCaldon * 2023: ''The Making of a Monster'' by Connor Allen * 2022: ''The Lemonade Lads'' by Faebian Averies * 2021: ''Maynard'' by

Fraser Ayres Fraser Stuart Ayres (born 1980) is an English actor, best known for his role as Clint in the BBC comedy series '' The Smoking Room''. Ayres first joined the youth core at the Haymarket Theatre in Leicester and has done other television includin ...

* 2020: ''Bathwater'' by Vicky Foster * 2019: ''Of A Lifetime,'' Lulu Raczka *2018: ''The Book of Yehudit'', Adam Usden *2017: ''Comment Is Free,'' James Fritz *2016: ''30 Eggs'', Eoin O'Connor *2015: ''How to Say Goodbye Properly,'' E.V. Crowe *2014: ''The Loving Ballad of Captain Bateman'', Joseph Wilde with composer

Tim Van Eyken Tim van Eyken (born 7 March 1978) is an English actor, singer, melodeon player and guitarist. Career Van Eyken first started playing penny whistle after seeing James Galway on television. He graduated to playing for his mother, then a member ...

* 2013: ''Do You Like Banana, Comrades?'', Csaba Székely * 2012: ''Amazing Grace'', Michelle Lipton * 2010: ''The Road Wife'',

Eoin McNamee Eoin McNamee (1961 in Kilkeel, County Down, Northern Ireland) is a writer of novels and screenplays. Career McNamee studied Law at Trinity College Dublin and then worked in various occupations besides being a full-time writer. He has taught a ...

* 2009: ''Girl from Mars'',

Lucy Caldwell Lucy Caldwell (born 1981) is a People of Northern Ireland, Northern Irish playwright and novelist. She was the winner of the 2021 BBC National Short Story Award and of the 2023 Walter Scott Prize. Biography She was born in Belfast in 1981 in w ...

* 2008: ''The Magician's Daughter'',

Adam Beeson Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam sin ...

* 2007: ''Not Talking'', Mike Bartlett * 2006: ''Mixed Blood'',

Nazrin Choudhury Nazrin Choudhury is an Academy Award-nominated British-American screenwriter, director and actress of Bangladeshi descent. Early life Choudhury was born in South West London, England to parents of Bangladeshi origin. She graduated with a BSc ...

* 2005: ''Mr. Sex'', Steve Coombs * 2004: ''All You on the Good Earth'',

Stephen Sharkey Stephen or Steven is an English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the f ...

* 2003: ''Milk; Celia Bryce for The Skategrinder'', N.Leyshon and S. McAnena * 2002: ''The Waltzer'', Rhiannon Tise * 2001: ''Electricity'',

Murray Gold Murray Jonathan Gold (born 28 February 1969) is an English composer for stage, film, and television and a dramatist for both theatre and radio. He is best known as the musical director and composer of the music for ''Doctor Who'' from 2005–201 ...

* 2000: ''A Matter of Interpretation'',

Peter Morgan Peter Julian Robin Morgan (born 10 April 1963) is a British screenwriter and playwright. He has written for theatre, films and television, often writing about historical events or figures such as Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II, whom he has ...

* 1999: ''Skin Deep'',

Ben Cooper Ben Cooper (September 30, 1933 – February 24, 2020) was an American film and television actor who won a Golden Boot Award in 2005 for his work in Westerns. Stage Cooper appeared on Broadway in '' Life with Father'' (1939). He debuted in th ...

* 1998: ''Earthquake Girl'',

Katie Hims Katie is an English female name. It is a form of Katherine, Kate, Caitlin, Kathleen, Katey and their related forms. It is frequently used on its own. People Sports * Katie Boulter (born 1996), British tennis player * Katie Clark (born 1994), ...

* 1997: ''Holy Secrets'' & ''Wilde Belles'',

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

joint winner

Rosemary Kay ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers. It is a member of the sage family, Lamiaceae. The species is native to the Mediterranean r ...

''Holy Secrets'' & ''Wilde Belles'' * 1996: ''

I Luv You Jimmy Spud ''I luv you Jimmy Spud'' is a play set in Newcastle upon Tyne by British playwright Lee Hall starring Gus Brown as Jimmy Spud and Michael Walpert as Stephen (Scout). Originally commissioned by BBC Radio 4, it was first broadcast in 1995. The ...

'', Lee Hall * 1995: ''Daisy the Cow who Talked'' & ''Kissing the Gargoyle'',

Gerry Stembridge Gerard "Gerry" Stembridge (born 1958, County Limerick, Ireland) is an Irish writer, director and actor. He was educated at CBS Sexton Street in Limerick and later at Castleknock College. While attending University College Dublin, he was audit ...

joint winner James Stock * 1994: ''The Long Hot Summer of '76'',

Gabriel Gbadamosi Gabriel Gbadamosi (born 1961)Killam, G. Douglas, and Alicia L. Kerfoot''Student Encyclopedia of African Literature'' Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2008, p. 14. is a British poet, playwright and novelist of Irish-Nigerian descent. He is ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Society of Authors
Dramatist and playwright awards Radio drama awards Society of Authors awards Awards established in 1994 1994 establishments in the United Kingdom British radio awards