The BBC’s Felix Dexter Bursary for black, Asian and other minority ethnic writers is to return for a second year.
A six-month bursary will be awarded to train an aspiring comedy writer to develop their skills at the Corporation.
The winners of last year’s scheme, Leah Chillery and Jonny Wright, went on work on shows including BBC Three’s Famalam and This Country, BBC One’s Mrs Brown’s Boys and Radio 4 Extra’s Newsjack.
Shane Allen the BBC’s controller of comedy commissioning said: ‘Finding, backing and supporting new and diverse British talent so they have the opportunity to tell the stories they want to tell is incredibly important to us, and our audience, and we’re excited to be bringing this opportunity back.’
Allen set up the scheme last year with Dexter’s friend and colleague, Paul Whitehouse, to address an under-representation of BAME writers in the business.
Comedy commissioner Sarah Asante added: ‘BBC Comedy has always worked with the very best emerging talent. Programmes like Famalam, Man Like Mobeen, People Just Do Nothing and the upcoming Diary Of A Hounslow Girl are fantastic examples of contemporary comedy from writers and performers from ethnic minority backgrounds, often making their first network TV appearances on the BBC.
‘We hope this inspires up and coming comedy writers to apply for the bursary.’
The bursary is open to black, Asian and other ethnic minority writers or writing duos who are 18 or over. Applications can be made via the BBC Writersroom from 5pm today, with entries closing on Monday July 30 at 5pm.
Dexter, whose credits include The Real McCoy, The Fast Show and Citizen Khan as well as his stand-up, died in October 2013, aged 52.
All the news from today’s BBC press event:
