Would you like to win £2,200 sterling, a trip to London and have your play broadcast across the world on BBC World Service? If so, the 2018 International Radio Playwriting Competition is now open to entries!

There are three prizes to be won.

Two first prizes – for the best radio plays by writers with either English as their first language or English as their second language. Both winners’ plays will be broadcast on BBC World Service.

In addition, there’s the Georgi Markov prize – for the most promising script, this prize gives the winner a chance to come to London for two weeks and work alongside BBC Radio Drama and with BBC World Service journalists.

This year’s competition is run in partnership with the British Council, co-producers, The Open University, which has allowed the BBC World Service to offer these three prizes.

Who can enter?

Anyone aged 18 or over and living outside the UK – whether you’re an established writer, completely new or anywhere in between.

Last year’s winners included a Canadian writer who had never written a play before and a Brazilian writer who’d never written for radio. Find out more about last year’s winners here.

To mark the launch of this year’s competition, there’s another chance to hear the prize-winning play in last year’s English as a Second Language category. The Day Dad Stole a Bus by Péricles Silveira is an imaginative and poignant play about a father, a daughter and a natural disaster, set in Péricles’ home country of Brazil. “Intriguing, touching and gripping” (Financial Times)

How to enter

The competition is open to new and established writers, provided they live outside the UK and are 18 or over.

Please read the Terms and Conditions before you enter

In order to enter you need to send:

• A script for a 53 minute radio play with up to 6 central characters – we are unable to return these, so make sure you keep a copy

• A synopsis which outlines your play is no longer than 400 words

• A completed entry form (here), attached to your play and synopsis.

Or you can complete and submit your entry online (here) by uploading your play and synopsis along with your personal details.

Deadline

The competition is open from 3 October 2017 to 31 January 2018.