Corwin Award Nominations
The National Audio Theatre Festivals needs your nominations for the Norman Corwin Award
Every year, the Norman Corwin committee of the NATF bestows an award in his honor to a person or group who has made an outstanding contribution to American radio drama.
How to Submit
Submit Your Nominations
DEADLINE: Friday, March 15, 2024
In the form provided please Include:
- A short statement, no more than a paragraph, on why you believe your nominee should be honored with the Corwin Award.
- A list of the nominee’s most notable productions and, for individuals, information on how they participated – writer, actor, director, engineer, etc.
The nomination period is open now through Friday, March 15, 2024.
Please be accurate with contact information as we may need to ask for additional information regarding your nominee.
There is a small $35 fee for each nomination, and when we receive your nomination email we will reply with remittance details.
Nomination Form
About the Corwin Award
The Norman Corwin Award Committee of the NATF annually bestows this
award to a person or group who has made an outstanding contribution to
American Audio Theatre. Anyone may submit a nomination.
Nominees should have worked in audio theatre for at least 10 years, and
created a substantial and significant body of work. They may be writers,
actors, directors, musicians, foley artists or technicians, and their
works may be in any fiction or nonfiction genre. Any American citizen or
group can be eligible. Deceased people and disbanded groups may also be
nominated for a Corwin Legacy Award.
Audio Theatre (sometimes called radio theatre or radio drama) is defined
as audio productions which have been written or adapted for the audio
medium, using voices, sounds, and music. A simple reading of text
written for the eye, such as an audiobook, does not qualify. Audio
theatre may be associated with any audio medium, including radio
broadcast, analog or digital recordings in any form, and podcasting,
file sharing or streaming online.
The Award is named in honor of Norman Lewis Corwin (1910-2011), who was
hailed during his lifetime as the Grand Master of American Audio
Theatre. He wrote, directed and produced many widely acclaimed and
nationally famous plays and pieces for radio broadcast, recordings, and
the internet, starting in 1938 and continuing into the 21st Century.
Working with virtually every major star and personality of his time, his
creations have been and remain tremendously influential throughout all
the performing arts.
Past Winners
2022
- Fred Greenhalgh
- Dr. Linda McAlister – Legacy Award
- Jeff Kraus – Legacy Award
2021
2020
- Atlanta Radio Theatre Company
- William Dufris – Legacy Award
2019
- Miles B. Smith
2018
- Marjorie Van Halteren
2017
- Brian Price
Great Northern Audio Theatre - Jerry Stearns
Great Northern Audio Theatre - Stan Freeberg – Legacy Award
2016
2015
- Erik Bauersfeld
- Orson Welles – Legacy Award
2014
2013
- Charles Potter
- Himan Brown – Legacy Award
2012
- The Firesign Theatre
Phil Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman, and Phil Proctor
2011
- Tom Lopez
- Yuri Rasovsky – Legacy Award
2010
Norman Corwin
1910-2011
was an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing. His earliest and biggest successes were in the writing and directing of radio drama during the 1930s and 1940s.
The Norman Corwin Award for Excellence in Audio Theatre celebrates the life of Norman Lewis Corwin, 1910-2011, by honoring Americans whose life work has made important contributions to the art Corwin did so much to establish and advance: audio theatre.
“He was the greatest director, the greatest producer, and the greatest writer in the history of radio. Nobody could touch what he did.” – Ray Bradbury
Bradbury’s high regard for the work of Norman Corwin is widely shared in the worlds of broadcast communications and show business. For this reason, National Audio Theatre Festivals chose to name its award “The Norman Corwin Award for Excellence in Audio Theatre.”