We're excited to announce that we currently have an opportunity for a Publishing Intern to join Nick Hern Books for six months, starting in March 2025.

As our Publishing Intern, you'll have the opportunity to shadow and learn from members of the team in every department: editorial, production, sales, marketing, rights, finance and customer service.

Some of your tasks will include (but not be limited to) the following:

• Office duties – assisting with customer orders; processing invoices and payments; organising couriers; dealing with incoming and outgoing post; replenishing office supplies, etc.
• Editorial – reading and commenting on submissions; copyediting manuscripts.
• Production – proofreading and checking corrections; preparing files for print.
• Marketing – compiling and proofreading materials such as review quotes, metadata, digital assets, newsletters, etc.
• Sales – generating sales reports; attending events.

If you have demonstrable interest in theatre and a genuine passion for starting a career in theatre and/or publishing, then apply! This opportunity is open to Black, Asian and ethnically diverse candidates, and is part-funded by the Mo Siewcharran Memorial Fund which supports internships for young talent from ethnicities that are under-represented in the theatre, publishing and music industries.

Recruitment for this internship is being administered by Creative Access. See more and apply by 13 January 2025 via the Creative Access website.

The nominees for the 25th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards have been announced, with multiple NHB plays and authors featured across the shortlists.

A fantastic three NHB-published plays are up for the Best New Play award: Giant by Mark Rosenblatt, Princess Essex by Anne Odeke and Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris. Both Giant and Princess Essex also have nods in performing categories, with Romola Garai up for Best Supporting Performer in a Play for her role in Giant, and Anne Odeke – who, in addition to writing Princess Essex, also starred in the title role – shortlisted for Best Performer in a Play.

The most-nominated play at this year's awards is the Max Webster-directed revival of Shakespearean psychological drama Macbeth, which transferred to the Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End following a hit run at the Donmar Warehouse. The production is up for six prizes: Best Play Revival, a Best Performer in a Play nod each for stars David Tennant and Cush Jumbo, and nominations for Best Sound Design (Gareth Fry), Best Musical Direction/Supervision (Alasdair Macrae), and Best Casting Direction (Anna Cooper).

Also up for Best Play Revival is Robert Icke's visionary new version of Sophocles classic Oedipus, which is currently playing at Wyndham's Theatre, London. This arresting new take, which transforms the epic tragedy into an essential and explosive political thriller, also earns Icke a nomination for Best Director.

Dear Evan Hansen, which is now on a national tour this Autumn following its first, multi-award-winning UK run in London's West End, is shortlisted for Best Musical Revival and Best Regional Production. This new production of the musical by Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul was first seen at Nottingham Playhouse, and is now touring through to July 2025.

Elsewhere, there are two nominations for The Years, adapted for the stage by Eline Arbo and translated into English by Stephanie Bain from the novel by Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux. The production, which transfers to London's West End early next year, is shortlisted for Best Director (Eline Arbo) and Best Casting Direction (Amy Ball). And finally, NHB author Julie Hesmondhalgh is shortlisted for Best Supporting Performer in a Play for her role in Punch by James Graham, which transfers to the Young Vic Theatre, London, from March 2025. 

The WhatsOnStage Awards are the only major theatre awards nominated and voted for by the public. The winners will be announced at a live ceremony on 9 February – you can see the full lists of nominees and vote for the shows you'd like to win here.

Created in collaboration between Nick Hern Books and fellow drama publishers Bloomsbury, Faber and Concord Theatricals, the (Incomplete) Lit in Colour Play Lists highlight fantastic plays by writers of colour, selected by a panel of expert advisors, which are great for 11-18 year-olds (and beyond) to read, study and perform.

The Play Lists aim to support schools to create more representative and inclusive drama experiences within the English and Drama curricula. They form part of the wider Lit in Colour campaign founded in 2020 by Penguin and The Runnymede Trust.

The 2024 Play List, which has just been released, features nineteen wonderful NHB-published plays by writers including Waleed Akhtar, Sonali Bhattacharyya, debbie tucker green, Sami Ibrahim, Benedict Lombe, Arinzé Kene and Lynn Nottage. You can read the full 2023 and 2024 lists here.

Matt Applewhite, Managing Director at Nick Hern Books, said:

'We have been delighted by the enthusiastic reception to the first (Incomplete) Lit in Colour Play List – but not surprised. We knew there was a very real, very urgent need for more plays by more diverse writers to be more widely known, read, studied, performed and celebrated, and we have been actively working for some time to diversify and broaden our list of authors. The sense of the canon being disrupted and rewritten is exciting and long overdue. Thank you to everyone who has dived into the first list – we hope this second list offers you another springboard for rich discoveries.'

Everyone at Nick Hern Books was saddened to hear of the death of wonderful actor and NHB author Timothy West, who died on 12 November, aged 90. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.

Here, NHB's founder and Publisher Nick Hern offers a personal tribute to Tim and his books, which we are very proud to publish.

'Publishing, like most other activities, is subject to the laws of chance and unintended consequences. Which is how I came to publish Tim West’s first two books.

'I was about to re-publish a neglected classic, a book about comedic acting by Athene Seyler and to bring it out on her 100th birthday, for which she was still very much alive, but I needed a new foreword by someone already renowned for the comedy of her performances. Prunella Scales, it turned out, had known the book since childhood. Problem solved.

'Shortly afterwards, instead of the hoped-for book proposal from Pru, came a suggestion from her husband that the letters he had written home from a multitude of tours might make for amusing and instructive reading. They did, and I’m Here I Think, Where Are You? duly made its debut in 1994, Tim’s recording of it becoming a staple of BBC Sounds. It absolutely captures his slightly ironic – but also affectionate – view of his profession and his fellow actors.

'A few years later, he was ready to write a "proper" autobiography. A Moment Towards the End of the Play came out in 2001 and sold well especially on the back of personal appearances by Tim – he was much loved. As indeed was Pru Scales, largely thanks to her phenomenal ‘turn’ as Sybil Fawlty. So the idea of getting them to co-author a book on acting was a no-brainer, though coaxing it out of them was not so easy, involving as it did alternating paragraphs in which each of them disagreed with what the other had just written! The resulting book, So You Want To Be An Actor? (published in 2005), is still very much in print nearly twenty years later.

'Throughout this period Tim and I would meet regularly, if infrequently, for lunch, at which he would lament that he really wanted to write another "proper" book but was bereft of a subject. Neither of us was to know that the elevation of his hobby to a TV series would see the waterborne antics of him and Pru on the canals transform them both into National Treasures.

'Tim’s gain was my loss – no more books about theatre for me! – but of course I can’t begrudge him this phenomenal late flowering. It only went to show the rest of the country what a thoroughly nice chap he was. An unintended consequence, if ever there was one.'

We're excited to be partnering with Outside Edge Theatre Company – the UK’s leading charity dedicated to addiction recovery through theatre and drama – to present Script Club: a new playreading and events initiative to support the development of writers from underrepresented backgrounds.

Each Script Club event will focus on a specific play, with participants receiving free, digital access to the playtext provided by NHB, followed by an in-person Q&A session with the playwright at the Bush Theatre, London. Participants will be able to explore each play with its writer, learn about how it was conceived, written and developed, and gain valuable inspiration, insight, advice and support in their own journeys as writers.

The first Script Club takes place in December 2024 with Winsome Pinnock, focusing on her seminal play Leave Taking. Script Clubs in early 2025 will be held with Conor McPherson on his contemporary classic The Weir, and Waleed Akhtar on his Olivier Award-winning play The P Word.

It is presented in association with theatre companies Cardboard Citizens, Clean Break and Synergy Theatre Project – who, together with Outside Edge, work with people affected by addiction, homelessness and with experience of the criminal justice system. The events are open only to members of these four organisations, who have been contacted with information on how to sign up. Future Script Clubs and contributing playwrights will be announced at a later date.

Matt Applewhite, Managing Director of Nick Hern Books, said: ‘Outside Edge, Cardboard Citizens, Clean Break and Synergy do incredible, inspirational work, supporting some of London’s most vulnerable individuals. It’s a privilege to partner with them on this new initiative, bringing people together in an inclusive environment to share the power of a great play.’

Matt Steinberg (Artistic Director and CEO) and Naomi Hopkins (Participation and Operations Manager) of Outside Edge Theatre Company, said: ‘We’re excited to partner with Nick Hern Books to offer this extraordinary opportunity for our participants and the members of theatre companies with whom we have long-standing relationships. Script Club will provide the writers from our organisations with a safe and supportive community in which they can develop as playwrights, connect with their peers and learn from the best playwrights working across the nation’s stages. This partnership is a powerful example of how organisations can join together to support people from underrepresented backgrounds to access professional development opportunities with leading industry professionals.’

Waleed Akhtar, Oliver Award-winning playwright, who will participate in Script Club in 2025, said: ‘I jumped at the chance to be a part of this initiative. It’s what theatre should be about: reaching communities and people who have traditionally been ignored by the mainstream. It’s why I wrote The P Word – and continue to make work.’

For the first time ever, we'll be exhibiting at TheatreCraft – the UK’s largest free careers event for anyone aged 16-30 seeking offstage roles in theatre – which this year takes place on Monday 11 November in central London.

We'll have a stall at the Exhibitor Marketplace at the Royal Opera House, open 10am-4pm, where we'll be offering special event prices on an exciting range of skills and careers guides on different backstage disciplines, as well as dozens of great contemporary plays and musicals.

The day will also feature a selection of fantastic workshops at venues across the West End – and we're delighted to be sponsoring the Writing sessions at this year's event. The programme includes a 'Starting Out' workshop by NHB author Waleed Akhtar (writer of the Olivier Award-winning The P Word) on getting your ideas down on the page, as well as a quick-fire writing workshop, a session getting your work seen and produced, and a musicals masterclass from one of the creators of West End hit Operation Mincemeat.

Registration for TheatreCraft 2024 is now open – see more and book your free ticket via the event website.

Opened in September and created by theatre cooperative and arts education charity SCRUM Theatre, SCRUM Studios is an exciting new arts centre located in Hammersmith, West London (just twenty minutes' walk from the NHB office!).

The building – formerly an administrative and archive space for the local council, and then let as offices – had laid empty for years, but is now a thriving venue containing three rehearsal studios, a co-working space for writers, a designers' workroom, a photography studio, and more. A 250-seat theatre will also be opening at the venue in 2025.

We're excited to be partnering with SCRUM on a range of initiatives, including a playscript library of NHB texts, and an on-site bookshop offering a range of careers and skills guides across different creative disciplines, as well as a selection of our great contemporary plays.

SCRUM are also offering a series of pay-what-you-can workshops, with multiple NHB authors featured amongst their Winter season. These include:

• Alexander Technique: Taking Your Space, led by Penny O'Connor – Thursday 14 November
• The Physical Voice, led by Mel Churcher – Thursday 21 November
• Selling Your Show by Russell Lucas – Saturday 23 November
• Making Your Solo Show, led by Lisa Carroll & Milly Thomas – Wednesday 27 November, 6pm

Tickets for these workshops are available now, with more to be announced soon. To see everything SCRUM are doing – and how you can get involved – head to their website.

Two NHB projects have made the shortlists for the Music & Drama Education Awards 2025, which were announced today (18 October).

The Drama Workshop Leader by Linden-Walcott Burton is in the running for Outstanding Drama Education Resource. Written by a facilitator with over fifteen years' experience running workshops for renowned organisations including the National Youth Theatre, Barbican and The Old Vic, this book is a comprehensive guide to planning and delivering effective drama sessions – no matter what's thrown your way.

Elsewhere, Multiplay Drama: Season 2 is shortlisted for Outstanding Drama Initiative. First introduced in 2019, Multiplay Drama provides fantastic large-cast plays – originally commissioned by some of the UK's top drama schools and youth theatres – specifically written to be performed by and appeal to young people. Season 2 was launched in 2023, and expands the series with ten more plays in an exciting variety of styles, genres and subject matters. (Season 1 of Multiplay Drama was also shortlisted for the same award in 2020.)

The winners of the Music & Drama Education Awards 2025 will be announced in January. Recent NHB winners have included our Platform play series (in partnership with Tonic Theatre), and When This Is Over (in partnership with Company Three).

Azuka Oforka won Best Writer at last night's The Stage Debut Awards for her play The Women of Llanrumney, which was premiered at Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, in May this year.

The play, which explores the lives of women on a Welsh-owned slave plantation in Jamaica in 1765, was described as 'a scorching writing debut that marks the arrival of an exhilarating new voice' (The Stage).

The Best Writer award was shared with Sam Grabiner for Boys on the Verge of Tears at Soho Theatre. Their joint victory marks the first time the gong has been won by two writers.

Also on the shortlist for Best Writer were NHB authors Martha Loader for Bindweed (HighTide/New Wolsey Theatre) and Harry McDonald for Foam (Finborough Theatre).

Other winners at this year's Stage Debut Awards, which were held in London on 29 September, included Jack Wolfe, who won the Best West End Debut Performer award for his performance in Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's musical next to normal, and Daniel Bailey, who won the Best Creative West End Debut award for his work as director on Tyrell Williams's play Red Pitch (@sohoplace).

Since 2022, we've been working with exam board Pearson and publishers Penguin Books on the Lit in Colour Pioneers Pilot Programme, an initiative to help schools diversify their curriculums by adopting a text by an author of colour for study at GCSE or A Level.

NHB has contributed to the programme by donating copies of the brilliant play Sweat by Lynn Nottage, a set text for Edexcel's A Level in English Literature. Schools who signed up to the Pioneers Pilot received a full classroom set of their chosen text, as well as access to support programmes and CPD resources.

So far, the programme has reached over 250 schools and 29,000 learners – and Lit in Colour have just released a report, written by University of Oxford researchers in collaboration with The Runnymede Trust, showing the positive impact a more diverse and inclusive curriculum can have on young people, and the barriers that need to be overcome to achieve further progress.  

The Pioneers Pilot is just one of a number of activities NHB has been involved in to help drive change in this area. We've collaborated on Lit in Colour's Incomplete Play List, and have been working with exam boards AQA, Eduqas and OCR to encourage adoption of new GCSE set texts Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock and Princess & The Hustler by Chinonyerem Odimba – including by commissioning and publishing the first study guides for these texts.

As Lit in Colour's report says, 'change is possible and has begun'. We're committed to playing our part.