'BBC' invites radio plays for int'l competition

'BBC' invites radio plays for int'l competition

JAKARTA (JP): BBC World Service has launched Writer Around the
World, its sixth International Playwriting Competition -- run this
year in conjunction with The British Council.

Writers, both professional and amateur, are invited to submit
an original radio play for the chance to win a trip to London to
see their work recorded and a cash prize of 2,000. Winning plays
will also be broadcast to World Service's 35 million listeners in
English worldwide.

In addition to the overall winner, there are prizes on offer
for the best radio play written by someone for whom English is
not a first language, and also for the five best regional
entries, according to a statement received by The Jakarta Post
last week.

Since the first competition in 1988, a number of very talented
new writers have been introduced to radio, all of whom have gone
on to write extensively for radio and other media.

Full details and entry forms can be obtained from BBC World
Service Drama, Playwriting Competition, Room 636, Broadcasting
House, London W1A 1AA, UK or by emailing
worldservicedrama@bbc.co.uk.

A new web site has also been launched in conjunction with the
competition: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/drama.

All plays must be about 60 minutes in length, be written in
English and submitted from writers who are not normally resident
in the UK. The closing date for entries is April 30, 1999.

The competition regularly attracts over 2,000 entries and this
year, Gordon House, executive producer of World Service Drama
hopes there will be many more. "I want to encourage more people
to discover for themselves the joys of writing for radio - this
wonderful, 'anything-is-possible' medium."