Lecturer wins award for research on radio productions of Shakespeare plays

Research by a University of Suffolk English lecturer released earlier this year has scooped a prestigious award honouring academic titles.

In May, Shakespeare on the Radio: A Century of BBC Plays by Dr Andrea Smith was released by Edinburgh University Press, and shortly before Christmas was confirmed to have won an Outstanding Academic Titles 2025 award by Choice, the publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries.

Dr Smith’s work offers the first detailed examination of British radio productions of William Shakespeare’s work, exploring how the Bard’s plays sounded and evolved in audio productions.

The book utilised documentary evidence and archive audio recordings, investigating what it means to present Shakespeare’s work in audio production form from the origins of radio to the present day, and puts the performances on a par with stage and film productions of Shakespeare’s work.

Dr Andrea Smith, Lecturer in English and Creative Writing at the University of Suffolk who teaches on Shakespeare and early modern literature, said: “It’s so lovely to see my research recognised more widely. 

“I’ve enjoyed sharing it with my students – and with the wider Suffolk community through the Ipswich Book Festival earlier this autumn. Now it’s getting recognition across the world. I’m thrilled to see how many people have embraced this.

“Radio productions of Shakespeare’s work have not been appreciated to the same extent as stage or film productions, but the richness of the language in his plays makes radio an ideal platform for these stories, and this research has strived to explore this.”

Following a career in journalism spanning nearly three decades, Dr Smith’s research has been published in a number of journals on Shakespeare, women’s history and radio, and has also contributed to BBC Radio 3 programmes.

To find out more about the book and to order a copy, visit the Edinburgh University Press website here.