4 April 2007
Goldsmiths student scoops prestigious radio award
On Friday 30 March 2007 Goldsmiths MA Radio student, Katie Burningham, was
awarded the Charles Parker Prize* for her five minute radio feature,
'Lieutenant Pigeon', in a ceremony held at the University of Central England
in Birmingham.
Katie Burningham is pictured above with Professor Sean Street of Bournemouth University
The award winning entry focuses on the 'Save the Trafalgar Square Pigeons',
a campaign group formed in 2000 to challenge the ban on feeding pigeons in
the Square.
Receiving £500 prize money and a two week work placement at BBC Radio
Features and Documentaries, the jurors (Julian May, Senior Producer, BBC
Documentaries, Paul Donovan of the Sunday Times and Simon Elmes, Creative
Director, BBC Documentaries) described Katie's piece as "compassionate but
subtle. This sophisticated piece of radio opens up a little corner of the
world, congratulations to Katie for her enterprise and expertise!"
Comments Dr Gareth Stanton, Head of the Media and Communications Department
at Goldsmiths: "Goldsmiths has a great track record of creative and talented radio students winning major awards and going on to have distinguished careers. Katie carries on this tradition, we are all immensely proud of her achievement".
Adds Katie: "I was thrilled that a piece about more esoteric members of
society was recognised by the judges. Winning this award was the best way
of giving my thanks to the people who spared their time to take part in the
feature."
The award was judged on the creative use of radio in the making of the feature.
*The Centre for Broadcasting History Research at Bournemouth University, in
association with BBC Radio and the Charles Parker Archive at Birmingham
Central Library, established the Charles Parker Prize for Student Radio
Features in memory of the world-famous radio features producer, creator -
with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger - of The Radio Ballads.
Listen to Katie Burningham's Lieutenant Pigeon (MP3 audio)
Interview with Katie by Laura Preece, Press and PR Assistant Communications & Publicity Goldsmiths, University of London New Cross London SE14 6NW
Laura: Who judged the award?
Katie: It is judged by three pretty important people within the industry - Simon Elmes, Creative Director, Radio Documentaries and Features, Julian May, Radio Features Producer, winner of the Gold 2006 Sony Radio Award for Features and Paul Donovan, Radio Critic of The Sunday Times
Laura: Who was Charles Parker?
Katie: Charles Parker was a pioneering and innovative figure in terms of radio's history. For example, in his most famous works called ‘The Radio Ballads’ he was amongst the first to show an interest in the real voices and stories of working class people. He was based in the Midlands and won many awards for his work including Prix Italia.
Laura: What was your programme about?
Katie: The programme I won the award for was a five minute piece called Lieutenant Pigeon. It was about people who are campaigning to continue to be allowed to feed the pigeons in Trafalgar Square (a ban was imposed in 2000) and centres primarily upon the figure of a ex-soldier and homeless man called Tony, aka Lieutenant Pigeon (self - titled).
Laura: What did winning the award mean to you?
Katie: I was thrilled that a piece about more esoteric members of society was recognised by the judges. One of my biggest concerns and challenges in creating it was to ensure that I represented the characters fairly and encouraged an audience to understand and perhaps sympathise with their stories. Winning this award was the best way of giving my thanks to the people who spared their time to take part in the feature.
Laura: What do you know about the Charles Parker Prize?
Katie: The award’s website says The Centre for Broadcasting History
Research, Bournemouth Media School, Bournemouth University, in association with BBC Radio and the Charles Parker Archive at Birmingham Central Library, has established the Charles Parker Prize for Student Radio Features in memory of the world-famous radio features producer,
Creator. Charles Parker originated with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger ‘The Radio Ballads’. He was born in Bournemouth in 1919.
The prize consists of a two week work placement (unpaid) with the BBC Radio Documentaries Unit, and a cheque for £500. (Funded by the Centre for Broadcasting History Research, Bournemouth Media School.)
The award will be made to the student entry who, in the view of the judges, represents the most
creative use of radio in the making of a radio feature. Submissions should not exceed 10 minutes in length; extracts of longer programmes are permissible, in which case a brief written rationale for the programme containing an overall synopsis should be included. Submissions must be the original work of the student. Co-productions cannot be accepted.
Laura: How did you find your MA course at Goldsmiths?
Katie: I decided to apply for the Radio MA at Goldsmiths having read a few books of Tim Crook’s about Radio Drama. The course is hard work but a really good balance between creative radio and journalism. You pick up a huge amount of skills and are continually tested and challenged. Above all, the course has inspired me to go out and explore radio and have the confidence to try out new ideas, however strange they may seem at first!
Laura: What impact has the award had for you:
Katie: The feedback has given me a tremendous boost of confidence. This is the feedback from the judges: ‘The jurors called Katie's piece "most beautifully done, both the recording of the humans and the noises off of the birds, and I really felt I was there: it was compassionate, but subtle. The rationale of the humans was slowly and quite tenderly brought out?";
"Tony and Molga, at opposite extremes of society (and voice) but united by their common concern, are great discoveries. Their lives are implied, not stated, in almost a Chekhovian way. The recording of the pigeons is brilliant...'Lieutenant Pigeon' has rhythm - a marvellous aural
vignette?"; "A most sophisticated piece of radio making...opens up a little corner of the world".
External Links:
Charles Parker Prize at Bournemouth University
Charles Parker Archive
