Bursary winners Esmee Rees and Morgan Staple, with BridLit director Tanya Bruce-Lockhart. Photo by Graham Shackleton

Bridport Literary Festival has announced the winners of this year’s student bursary awards.

The two successful candidates are Esmee Rees, who will read law at Cardiff University, and Morgan Staple who will read Archaeology and Anthropology at University College, London.

BridLit chairman Deirdre Coates said: ‘It was a difficult decision to make. There were some very impressive applicants.
‘In drawing up our criteria for selection we try to find young people who need the financial help, who have been involved in out-of-school activities which have helped their local communities, who are seriously interested in their chosen subject, and who, we believe, will do well at university and go on to successful careers and lives.’

The bursary scheme is now in its second year and is worth £9,000 over three years for Esmee and Morgan, who were both at school at The Sir John Colfox Academy in Bridport and begin their degrees this autumn.

The 2023 bursary holders are Medwin Stephen, reading Chemical engineering at Cambridge university, and Jessica St Barbe Baker, who is at Yeovil university studying to become a primary school teacher,
Said Mrs Coates: ‘Many of us live contentedly in Bridport with little awareness of how very difficult life is for some of our neighbours.

‘We may also not be fully aware of the great financial burden that university students must now bear.

‘When I went to university in the 1960s all my tuition fees were paid for by my local authority and many of my peers also received their accommodation and living expenses. Sadly, this is no longer the case.
‘It is wonderful that Bridlit was able to set this up. But we must not forget the very generous local couple who donated two thirds of the money for the bursaries.

‘Next year Bridlit has undertaken to select two more bursary recipients and award them £3,000 for each of the three years of their degree.’

Further bursaries after 2025 and beyond will depend on the success of future festivals.

The bursary scheme was inaugurated last year.

Brid Lit takes place from 3 – 9 November with an exciting range of talks by speakers from all genres in and around the town. For more information and tickets, visit the bridlit.com website. Tickets also available from Bridport Tourist Information Centre, in person or by calling 01308 424901.