News

Flora Gosling has won the inaugural Fringe Young Writers' Award for the best review of a show at the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe by a writer aged 16–21. Flora, who was recognised for her work writing for The Wee Review, will receive mentoring from arts writers at The Scotsman in addition to paid work as part of the paper's review team at the 2019 Fringe.

The Award was judged in conjunction with the Allen Wright Award, which celebrates the best features writer and reviewer under the age of 30. Tim Bano (The Stage, Fest, Independent) was the winner in the features category, while Kate Wyver (The Guardian) won in the reviews category.

Winners were selected by a judging panel which included Thom Dibdin (Scotland Correspondent, The Stage), Phil Miller (Arts Correspondent, The Herald), Arusa Qureshi (Editor, The List), and Oliver Davies (Head of Marketing, PR and Sponsorship, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society).

Flora Gosling, winner of the Fringe Young Writers’ Award said:
“I am delighted to have won this award, and extremely grateful to the Fringe Society for their dedication to encouraging young thespians and writers. I am certainly looking forward to reviewing for The Scotsman next year.”

Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said:
“Congratulations to all the entrants and winners of the Fringe Young Writers’ Award and the Allen Wright Award. Our expert panel of judges were impressed by the high standard of the entries submitted for both awards from a wide range of publications. The Fringe Society works to support everyone who participates in the Fringe, and we’re acutely aware of how important quality arts journalism is to the success of the festival.  We hope that these awards will continue to provide a much-needed platform for recognising the talents of new and emerging arts writers at the Fringe.”

Arts journalism has been in the spotlight throughout the 2018 Fringe with a series of events at Fringe Central looking at various aspects of covering the Fringe as a media professional. A Young Critics’ Programme, delivered in partnership with Youth Theatre Arts Scotland, offered eight young reviewers the opportunity to develop their reviewing skills through a series of workshops in the run up to and during the Fringe, exploring a range of topics including the fundamentals of arts criticism and finding your voice as a critic.