The Musical Theatre Bookwriting Award will now be one of fifteen award categories in the Writers’ Guild Awards celebrating British writing across all genres, including TV, film, theatre and radio.

Jenifer Toksvig, Co-Chair of the WGGB Theatre Committee, said: “We are delighted to announce this new award for the crucial and often under-acknowledged craft of musical theatre bookwriting. We’re excited to see a broad range of nominations in style and form, and can’t wait to get reading.”

Nominations for the Musical Theatre Bookwriting Award are open until midnight on Friday 26 October 2018. To qualify, writers must be British citizens or residents. Work is eligible for nomination if first produced between 1 October 2017 and 29 September 2018.

The category does not require its entrants to be professional performers: youth and community theatre productions are eligible if led by a professional production team, and for a minimum of three public performances. A ‘musical theatre book’ is defined as the overall structure of the show and it can also be sung through. Everyone identified by the writing team as a ‘bookwriter’ or ‘librettist’ meets the criteria for nomination, regardless of their percentage contribution.

Nominations must be made via the online form on the WGGB website, where additional eligibility criteria is also available.

About the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB)

The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) is a trade union representing writers for TV, film, theatre, radio, books, poetry, comedy, animation and video games. It negotiates national agreements on pay and conditions with key industry bodies, including BBC, ITV and Pact; the Royal Court, National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company. It campaigns and lobbies on behalf of writers and offers a range of benefits to its members, including free contract vetting, support and advice; events and discounts; free training; a weekly ebulletin; a pension scheme and welfare fund. Further information can be found on the WGGB website.

The Writers’ Guild Awards

ALCS is the lead sponsor of the 2019 Writers’ Guild Awards, alongside ITV, BBC and Silver Reel. The Writers’ Guild Awards, which launched in 1961, give professional writers from across Great Britain the opportunity to honour their peers, and celebrate the importance of writing to the creative industries, both nationally and abroad. They also recognise the importance of the Guild’s work in preserving freedom of speech. Full information about the awards, including a short history plus a full archive of previous winners, can be found here.