Bartlett and Joyce share 2007 Tinniswood Award

The 2007 Tinniswood Award of £1,500 has been jointly won by Mike Bartlett for Not Talking and Rachel Joyce for To Be A Pilgrim. The Awards were presented at an event in central London on 18 October, where Mike Bartlett also won the 2007 Imison Award for the drama by a writer new to radio.

The Tinniswood judges described Not Talking as "A powerful, contemporary drama that both shocks and edifies. The author cleverly weaves together dysfunctional characters and diverging timelines to create a compelling narrative where two different generations of characters seek a dubious and at times dangerous consolation in 'not talking'".

Mike Bartlett is currently writing a new play for R4 and his five part series The Family Man has recently been broadcast on Woman’s Hour. Theatrical productions include Artifacts which won the Old Vic New Voices Award 2006, and My Child which was recently performed at the Royal Court. He is now writing The Love Contract for the Royal Court.

To Be A Pilgrim by Rachel Joyce was described by the judges as "A radio play whose deceptive simplicity conceals a rich, complex emotional tapestry. A man goes out to post a letter, but feels compelled to carry on walking. What follows is a radio pilgrimage that surprises and empowers both central characters and listeners alike." 

Rachel Joyce has written extensively for radio. Her most recent plays include Feather (R4), Quintessence (R4) and In the Wind (R3). Rachel is currently adapting Henry James’ The Portrait of a Lady for R4’s Classic Series and other adaptations include the highly acclaimed The Professor by Charlotte Brontë (Woman’s Hour, R4). Her short television film Rockabye Baby was made by Channel 4 as part of the Dogma series and Rachel is working on a new drama for television. Before writing she worked as an actress playing lead roles at the RSC and RNT.

Also on the shortlist for the Tinniswood Award were Thomas Crow (The Internet Wants A Chat), Pearse Elliott (Last Suppers),,Marcy Kahan (Twenty Cigarettes) and Richard Lumsden (Man in the Moon).

The Tinniswood and Imison Awards are supported by The Society of Authors, The Writers’ Guild, the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society, The Peggy Ramsay Foundation and PURE Digital.

Article published: 29.10.07