Set up in 2019 by Popcorn Group, the Popcorn Writing Award celebrates fearless work which playfully and artistically questions and addresses current affairs, societal trends and contributes positively to public debate.
This year will mark the first year of a collaboration with BBC Writersroom who will be reading the shortlisted plays and taking part in the judging committee.
The award champions brave and imaginative writing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It is the only award of its kind, awarding a prize fund of £6,000 to the writers directly, allowing them the financial space and time to write something new.
Each year Popcorn puts together a committee which select the winners from the shortlist to award the prizes. Notable past committee members include: Golden Globe winning Ruth Wilson, Tony winning Enda Walsh, Oscar winning Gonzalo Maza & BAFTA winning Wunmi Mosaku.
How it Works: Eligibility Criteria
All plays submitted will be considered provided they are:
- A new piece of writing which has not had a significant run before the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe. (A significant run is deemed as no more than 7 performances or a play that was shown online.)
- A play that is being shown at one of the partnering venues:
Please send your piece of new writing and a 50 word summary of your play to your respective venue with “Popcorn Writing Award 2022// Title of Play // Writer’s Name // Venue Associated” in the subject heading.
Deadline: 10am on 24th June 2022
Source: BBC Writersroom
For an organisation that has the serious brief to ‘celebrate fearless work which playfully and artistically questions and addresses current affairs, societal trends and contributes positively to public debate’, POPCORN seems a remarkably inappropriate title. The eating of popcorn is the bane of serious cinema-going and is now creeping into theatres I notice. This could appear to be condoned by you in adopting this word for your company title, though I’m sure your intention was for it to evoke the ‘playfulness’ you ask for from your writers. All I can is that it doesn’t do that for me – it just looks like a bit of sloppy dumbing-down and an encouragement to the sort of mindless chewing-on-the-cud viewing that is presumably the opposite of what you want from your audiences.
Also, popcorn is all crunch and very little nutrition. A bit like reality television. It sounds like a competition for children’s plays.