Award and Mentoring
Programme

Mustapha Matura award and mentoring programme

The Mustapha Matura Award and Mentoring Programme is an opportunity for emerging and young Black playwrights of Caribbean and African descent aged 25 and under. The award includes a cash prize of £3,000 and a nine month mentoring programme with a leading Black British playwright.

The Mustapha Matura Award and Mentoring Programme joins the Roland Rees Bursary and Alfred Fagon Award to complete a trio of opportunities for Black British playwrights named in honour of three pioneers who were contemporaries, friends and supporters of each others’ work.

Mustapha’s wife Ingrid Selberg said, “Mustapha’s sudden death was a great loss and it is very important to us that Mustapha’s name is being carried forward in such a lasting and meaningful way and one that will provide opportunities to young, gifted black playwrights of the future. Mustapha loved working with and encouraging young people to achieve their dreams and he would be honoured and delighted by this Award.”

James St. Ville, Chair of Trustees of The Alfred Fagon Award said, “The Alfred Fagon Award is proud to be launching the Mustapha Matura Award and Mentoring Programme as part of its 25th anniversary. It is important to keep what we do vital, accessible and relevant. This new award and its approach to building links in the theatre industry through mentoring is an expression of confidence in and support for the power of new and young writers. It is an important addition to all we are trying to do.”

This prize is supported by the Estate of Mustapha Matura, Garrick Charitable Trust and The Henry and Mary Kent Trust and many individual donors.

2023 winner: Tia-Renee Mullings

Tia-Renee said, “I’m so grateful to have been the recipient of the Mustapha Matura award and Mentoring programme this year! Not only has win been hugely encouraging as someone in the early stages of their playwriting journey, but it has already opened so many doors that I hadn’t even known were there. It’s an honour to have had my writing recognised in this way, and I’m incredibly excited to explore not only my craft, but the world of theatre, especially under the guidance of a mentor, an invaluable opportunity that I can’t wait to make use of.  This has truly been a defining moment, and I’m immensely motivated for the future.”

SHORTLIST

• Little Angela Davis Tia-Renee Mullings
• Positive Temi Majekodunmi
• Reparations Maryam Garad
• The Fire This Time CJ Simon

LONGLIST

• 4th Person Sejahari Saulter-Villegas
• Block’d Off Kieton Saunders-Brown
• Little Angela Davis Tia-Renee Mullings
• Positive Temi Majekodunmi
• Reparations Maryam Garad
• The Fire This Time CJ Simon
• Untitled Emotions Obesi Osi-lyere

2022 winner: Kwame Owusu

Kwame said, “I am absolutely thrilled to be awarded the Mustapha Matura Award and Mentoring Programme. It is such an honour to be given this rare and generous opportunity to receive mentorship from a world-class playwright, alongside the championing of my writing that this award bestows. I’m incredibly excited to sharpen my writing technique over this mentorship period, and to expand my approach to storytelling and form with increasing boldness, ambition, and precision. This is a life-changing moment for me, and I feel genuinely delighted and galvanised for the future.”

Ingrid Selberg, wife of Mustapha Matura says, “I found Kwame Owusu’s ‘Dreaming and Drowning’ a powerful and authentic portrayal of a coming of age of a young black person, which explored anxiety, anger, confusion and joy conveyed in vivid and poetic language. I feel Kwame Owusu is a writer with great promise and deserves to win the Mustapha Matura Award and Mentoring Programme.”

Shortlist

• Hannah Shury-Smith Go Back Home!
• Kwame Owusu Dreaming and Drowning
• Tife Kusoro G [or Gully]

Longlist

• Hannah Shury-Smith – Go Back Home!
• Kwame Owusu – Dreaming and Drowning
• Savannah Ayoade-Greaves – Grandma’s Footsteps
• Steven Kavuma – Another F_ing Play About Race
• Temi Majekodunmi – Thicker Than Water
• Tife Kusoro – G [or GULLY]