My Experience Winning the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award

My 2025 New Year’s resolution was simple – find, write, and apply for any and all free writing opportunities, regardless of form. As a prose writer, most of these had been short story or novel-based opportunities, until my search led me to The Alfred Bradley Bursary Award, which looks for audio drama scripts by Northern writers. I hesitated over it. Scriptwriting was something I’d always wanted to try but never quite felt confident enough to. On top of that, there was only two weeks to go before the deadline.

But I told myself I had no choice – I couldn’t break my resolution only a quarter of the way into the year.

In the spring of 2025, in the time between lambing shifts, I wrote my first ever script, The Counsellor, and loved the process from the first word to the last. Writing for audio used different muscles to the short stories and novels I’d written before, and it wasn’t long until I found myself in an almost hypnotised state, closing my eyes and listening to the story unfolding in my head. At the end of the two weeks, I sent off a draft to the Award and, content that I’d had such a fulfilling time writing it, was more than prepared for it to drift off into the ether.

Cut to September, and I’m sitting in the audience at the BBC Contains Strong Language festival with my fellow ABBA finalists, listening to Peter Straughan (a writing hero of mine and 2025 judge) speak glowingly about the experiences he’d had with audio drama writing. It was a very inspiring and motivating speech, and that alone was more than worth the journey to Bradford for the event – there was not one single part of me that thought I could win.

So much so that I wasn’t the least bit nervous or anticipatory when a very bright yellow envelope was brought on stage to reveal the winner. When my name was read out, I was so visibly shocked that the person next to me burst out laughing.

That night I was introduced to so many incredible people working within the audio landscape, all of whom were so kind and encouraging, and set the tone for what would be a brilliant experience from start to finish. One of these was Nadia Molinari, who would be The Counsellor’s producer and director, and the steerer of the ship from September through to February when we would record.

In that time, Nadia and Pippa Day (Script Editor and Production Co-ordinator) met with me several times to discuss drafts of the script. In these meetings, they taught me so many things that not only made The Counsellor stronger, but made my approach to future scripts stronger too. I learnt to outline, to edit, where to cut and where to develop, and how to write with an awareness of both the practicalities and many possibilities of audio. I looked forward to each of our meetings, knowing I would walk away from them feeling like a better writer.

On February 23rd and 24th, I had the opportunity to be part of The Counsellor’s recording, which was a complete dream come true. Watching such a brilliant cast (Chelsea Halfpenny, Lewis Bowes, Sarah Balfour, Charlotte Bradley, Matilda Freeman, George Bukhari, Angela Lonsdale, Gwenllian Mears, and George MacGowan) inhabit the characters I had created at my desk was such a surreal and rewarding experience. I’ll never forget listening to the readthrough and feeling like the characters I’d created at my desk were now in the room with me.

Over the next two days, I was alongside Nadia, Pippa, Sharon Hughes (Sound Designer and Technical Producer), and Kelly Young (Technical Producer) working both in the space with the actors to rehearse, and back in the recording suite to listen. Watching the skill, efficiency, and generosity with which everyone worked together made such a strong impression on me, especially at this point at the beginning of my career. Though fast-paced, it never felt rushed or stressed, and I was able to soak up every second and learn as much as I could from everyone around me. I feel very lucky to have had such a team at the helm of my first audio project.

Although it was a poignant moment at the end of the second day when I realised I would no longer be working on this story, I had the broadcast day to look forward to, and was lucky enough to listen to the recording early. Listening (and loving the experience) whilst preparing for another lambing was a very profound moment where I took stock and realised how much had changed in a single year, all because I’d taken a chance.

Since writing that first draft purely for my own enjoyment and with no expectations, to now awaiting that story’s release on BBC Radio 4, I know I have grown so much as a writer. That night in September is such a blur to me now but I remember someone telling me that winning the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award would change my life, and it has. Not only has it opened more doors for me than I ever could have anticipated, but crucially, it has given me the confidence to now step through them.

Listen to Abby's Radio Drama, The Counsellor now on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.