Winners of the 2025 Charles Parker Prize
On 16th May the five winners of the 2025 Charles Parker Prize were announced by Hugh Levinson, BBC Radio 4’s Commissioning Editor for Speech Programmes. The five winning features will be broadcast in the New Storytellers Series on BBC Radio 4 from 18-22 August and will continue to be available, as are the winning features from previous years. Here are the results and the judges’ citations.
In Living Memory – Shadé Joseph – UCL
In an elegy to her lost brother, Zeon, Shadé’s programme tells the story of how the baby unexpectedly died, with grievous effects on his mother and family. The citation of the judges said: “Wow what a powerful piece! So intimate and (as a mum myself) not an easy listen… I was thoroughly moved, floored, and speechless. Very expertly done. This is a remarkable piece of audio. The voice of the narrator is mesmerising in her adlibbed / scripted interventions. Very moving and beautifully realised.”
14 Years in 14 Minutes – Sarah Warren (Transmission Roundhouse audio course)
Judges praised “a good personal, informative account of living with diabetes… a very easy listen and the personality really shines through. Great illustrative sound design also.”
My Toy Soldier – Kieran Callaghan (University of Sunderland)
“This simple story was beautifully told,” was the jury’s opinion. “And I loved all the little sonic details which elevated the feature and took it to a different level.”
The T-shirt – Jenny Davies (In the Dark audio course)
Judges called it “an incredibly powerful, poignant listen…a small masterpiece…beautifully written, delivered and constructed with an inevitable climax that’s a remarkable section of scripted audio.”
Ukraine to Scotland – Musical Journey – Sofiia Fylypiv (University of the Highlands and Islands)
This personal take on the war was, the jury said, “thought-provoking, emotionally engaging, with highly skilled radio production values for one so young and totally original use of music…this feature showed expressiveness, storytelling skill, combined with subtle mix of music, FX etc. Moving, memorable and quite dazzling.”