The winners of the Journal Culture Awards 2011, the annual celebration of cultural achievement in the North East organised by regional newspaper The Journal, were announced last night. Fifteen awards were presented at the ceremony at the Gala Theatre, Durham which was hosted by performance poet and stand-up comic Kate Fox.
The awards were limited edition prints by Durham-based artist Anja Percival.
Theatre-related winners were:
- Performance of the Year: the Northern Stage/Sheffield Theatres production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- Performing Artist of the Year: John Hodgkinson who played MP Chris Mullen in Live Theatre's A Walk On Part
- Writer of the Year: David Almond for his first adult novel The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean. Also nominated were playwrights Michael Chaplin (A Walk On Part) and Alison Carr (Can Cause Death).
- Special Award: Max Roberts, artistic director of Live Theatre