Mayo TV drama writer nominated for prestigious award

Mayo writer Ray Lawlor is a finalist in the 17th Writers Guild of Ireland (WGI) Zebbie Awards for his RTÉ television series Obituary.

The awards ceremony, which will be presented by Tara Flynn, will take place on Tuesday, September 3, at The Sugar Club in Dublin, and Cork writers are finalists in the Best Short Film Script and Best Radio/Audio Drama Script categories.

Lawlor, an award-winning writer for film and television from Castlebar, is a finalist in the Best TV Drama Script category for the opening episode of the first series of Obituary.

Despite a tumultuous year for the arts last year, with strikes, cutbacks and the erosion of opportunities for emerging talent, an exceptionally high standard of writing is reflected throughout this year’s nominations, with other nominees including Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor who wrote the highly acclaimed feature film Baltimore.

The Zebbie Awards celebrate the best of Irish writing in Theatre, Television Drama, Continuing Drama, Short Film, Feature Film, Radio and Animation. Only WGI members can read the nominated scripts and vote in the awards.

They are named in honour of O.Z. ‘Zebby’ Whitehead, a Broadway and Hollywood actor who was a great supporter of theatre and writing in Ireland after he moved to Dublin in 1963.

This year’s awards take place as the Writers’ Guild of Ireland celebrates its Emerald Anniversary, marking 55 years since it was first established as the Society of Playwrights in Ireland.

As part of its Emerald celebrations, the WGI will be hosting the World Conference of Screenwriters 2024 in Galway this October, where over two hundred screenwriters from all across the world will gather to discuss their craft and their industry.

The WGI, which campaigns for rights, remuneration, more control of work and better recognition for its members, represents over 400 Irish writers for film, television, theatre, radio, animation and games.

This year’s Zebbie Awards will also present former Senator David Norris, who hosted the Zebbie Awards for many years, with the WGI’s Special Services to Writers Award in honour of his support for the WGI and Irish writers.

The WGI gratefully acknowledges the support of our Zebbie Awards sponsors Comisiún na Meán and the Irish Copyright Licensing Agency (ICLA).