Martha Loder’s new work The Town has been awarded the George Devine Award, one of the most prestigious UK awards for new writing. The play explores the complexities of family and community, after a young boy’s act of violence, and exposes how swiftly we turn to blame.
Martha developed the work as part of her final-year dissertation project while studying the UEA MA in Creative Writing.
This award recognises emerging playwrights whose works have demonstrated exceptional skill, creativity and promise, along with a prize of £15,000 to support her future work.
“Winning the George Devine Award is a real honour,” says Martha. “I wrote an early draft of The Town as my MA dissertation in 2024, with Ben Musgrave as my supervisor. Having Ben’s support, as well as the time and resources of the UEA MA, was hugely impactful as it pushed me to write my biggest play yet. Learning from playwrights whose work I so admire taught me so much about the craft of writing but also about the ‘job’ of being a playwright.”
Ben Musgrave, Lecturer in Scriptwriting at UEA, said: “It was such a privilege to see Martha’s astonishing play come into being. The Town is a special piece of work, sophisticated, richly imagined in its dramatic world and devastatingly powerful.”
