Hannah Morley wins the 2018 Radius Playwriting Award

Hannah Morley has won the 2018 Radius Playwriting Award, the FInborough Theatre has announced today.

Morley, born in Doncaster in 1992, is a first-time playwright whose piece Petrichor was written as part of the Soho Theatre's Writer's Lab. It was longlisted for the Verity Bargate and Bruntwood Prizes.

The two judges for the award were Neil McPherson and Sue Healy, the artistic director and literary manager of the Finborough. Morley has won £500 and a staged reading as part of the Finborough Theatre's Vibrant 2018, a festival celebrating playwrights.

McPherson said: "Petrichor was a clear and worthy winner. The competition is judged entirely blind, and when we discovered that the winner was a new playwright and this was her first play, we were astonished. We very much look forward to working with Hannah on this play and into the future."

The shortlist for the competition was Celebrate by Callum Cameron, Evidence by Richard Adams, Headhog by Tom Jensen, No Flag by Natalie Audley, Part Light by Edie Franklin, Portrait by Georgina Burns and The Sanctuary by Chris Jamieson. The Funeral Director by Iman Qureshi was also shortlisted, but was withdrawn from the competition before the judging as it has just been announced as the winner of this year's Papatango Prize.

The next Radius competition will take place in 2020, with information to be announced in December 2019.