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UCL Student Wins Prestigious Charles Parker Prize for Powerful Audio Documentary
20 May 2025
Audio Storytelling for Radio and Podcast MA student Shadé Joseph takes home the Gold Prize for her moving audio piece 'In Living Memory,' which will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 later this year.
UCL student Shadé Joseph has won the coveted Gold Prize for Best Student Audio Feature at the 2025 Charles Parker Awards, one of the UK’s leading honours for student radio work. Her deeply personal audio piece, In Living Memory, captivated judges with its emotional depth and outstanding production, earning high praise and a forthcoming broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
The piece is a beautifully crafted work that, in Shadé’s own words, is a “message to my eldest brother Zeon who died before I was born, extending my gratitude for his life being a legacy in which all the children in my family exist because of.”
Judges were unanimous in their praise, writing in their citation: “Wow what a powerful piece! So intimate and (as a mum myself) not an easy listen… I was thoroughly moved, floored, and speechless. Very expertly done. This is a remarkable piece of audio. The voice of the narrator is mesmerising in her adlibbed / scripted interventions. Very moving and beautifully realised.”
Currently studying part-time on the Audio Storytelling for Radio and Podcast MA based at UCL East, Shadé is due to graduate later this year. Her win reflects not only her creative skill but also her unique voice as a storyteller.
Fellow UCL student Chloé Turpin was also nominated for her documentary Shorn Women. Judges described her piece as “engaging from start to finish… the story is vivid and full of discovery.”
Both students were invited to the awards ceremony, held during the Annual Charles Parker Day, on 16 May 2025. Shadé’s winning documentary will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 this summer as part of the New Storytellers strand.
Athar Ahmad, programme lead for the Audio Storytelling for Radio and Podcast MA, said:
"This award is testament to Shadé’s hard work and dedication over the course of MA. She is continuously striving to find new ways to improve her creative practice, building upon what she’s learnt from the course and bringing to life the stories which matter most to her."
About the Audio Storytelling for Radio and Podcast MA
This practice-based Master's trains students in the craft and techniques of audio storytelling, drawing inspiration from the global audio industry and equipping them to join and shape it. Through this programme students learn the skills necessary to produce short and feature-length creative audio works for radio, podcasts and other audio platforms.