After last year's highly successful launch, the Writers' Guide of Great Britain has again teamed up with The List to celebrate the best new writing on the Edinburgh Fringe.

Best Comedy

Winner: Reginald D Hunter
£500

Also shortlisted: Mark Watson, The Receptionists (Verity Rose Woolnough, Katie Lyons and Morgan Lloyd Malcolm).

The man from Atlanta who launched a comedy career after moving to London has occupied many a shortlist in his time without quite scooping the main prize. So, it's about time that someone gave this most powerful of comedy writers and performers a gong. He has won here with arguably his best show to date, Pride and Prejudice and Niggas.

Having backed Hunter all the way before the Festival had even started, we were delighted to see him 'roam his stage with exquisite poise and an arsenal of killer material.' Whether he was talking about being mistaken for Pelé by a Chinese guy or questioning why he does the things he does in his relationships, he is 'both intensely funny and actually quite moving.' (Brian Donaldson)

Best Comedy Newcomer

Winner: Simon Brodkin
£250, plus mentoring from BBC

Also shortlisted: The Future (Joe Thomas, Jonny Sweet).

It's not every day you see a white comic browning up before your very eyes. But Simon Brodkin is quite clearly no ordinary comic. His four characters (an Asian doc, a trustafarian, a chav and a holiday rep) are almost too deliciously drawn for words as the comic seeks to reflect a cross-section of British life.

In our review, we were more than happy to praise him for those 'scintillating and hilarious portrayals' and also for taking them a step further and making them all extremely bloody funny. 'This is bold and innovative thinking from a guy who, rather handily, can also write killer line after killer line' we raved. And with good cause. (Brian Donaldson)

Best Theatre

Winner: Black Watch (Gregory Burke)
£500

Also shortlisted: Particularly in the Heartland (Rachel Chavkin and TEAM), Improbable Frequency (Arthur Riordan).

It's not every day you see a white comic browning up before your very eyes. But Simon Brodkin is quite clearly no ordinary comic. His four characters (an Asian doc, a trustafarian, a chav and a holiday rep) are almost too deliciously drawn for words as the comic seeks to reflect a cross-section of British life.

In our review, we were more than happy to praise him for those 'scintillating and hilarious portrayals' and also for taking them a step further and making them all extremely bloody funny. 'This is bold and innovative thinking from a guy who, rather handily, can also write killer line after killer line' we raved. And with good cause. (Steve Cramer)

Best Theatre Newcomer

Winner: Finer Noble Gases (Adam Rapp)
£250, plus mentoring from BBC

Also shortlisted: The Unsinkable Clerk (Tom Warwick, Felix Hayes and Andrew Paton).

It's not every day you see a white comic browning up before your very eyes. But Simon Brodkin is quite clearly no ordinary comic. His four characters (an Asian doc, a trustafarian, a chav and a holiday rep) are almost too deliciously drawn for words as the comic seeks to reflect a cross-section of British life.

In our review, we were more than happy to praise him for those 'scintillating and hilarious portrayals' and also for taking them a step further and making them all extremely bloody funny. 'This is bold and innovative thinking from a guy who, rather handily, can also write killer line after killer line' we raved. And with good cause. (Steve Cramer)

The Prizes

In addition to prizes of £500 in the 'Best' categories, and £250 in the 'Best Newcomer categories, each winner receives a year's free membership to the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. Newcomers are also offered mentoring from BBC drama and comedy producers.

BBC mentoring for newcomers

Paul Ashton and Katherine Beacon will act as mentors for this year's winners in the Newcomer categories. The mentoring will be completely tailored to the individual writers. There will be as much face-to-face contact as the writer wants and geography allows. Ashton and Beacon will attempt to point their writer in the right direction at the BBC, and they would ideally like to view this as a long-term development relationship.

This Year's Judges

• Sally Avens, BBC drama producer (Radio 3, Radio 4)
• Nick Barley, Editor of The List
• Steve Cramer, Theatre editor of The List
• Brian Donaldson, Comedy editor of The List
• Peter Sinclair, Comedy writer (Spitting Image, Rory Bremner)
• Arthur Smith, Comedian and writer (Alas Smith and Jones)

We have a team of scouts, most of whom are members of the Writers' Guild, watching and assessing hundreds of shows in Edinburgh throughout August. Their reports are published here - separate from the main List Festival reviews. The scouts' recommendations are passed on to our team of judges, who go see the shows themselves, fight amongst themselves for a bit, then select the winners.

Eligibility

Eligibility is defined by Fringe brochure entry.

• The show must be a world or European premiere as defined in the Fringe programme.
• No show can be considered unless it appears in the Fringe programme.
• The award is limited to shows appearing under 'comedy' or 'theatre' in the Fringe programme.
• The show must be on for at least 15 days of the Festival (including previews).
• The show must be on at least once between 3 and 18 August.
• Free shows are ineligible
• Shows featuring more than one stand-up are ineligible, where stand-up is the main component of the show.
• While every effort will be made to see every show that qualifies, we cannot guarantee that this will be achieved in the small amount of time we have to do this.
• The Writers' Guild of Great Britain and The List magazine are unable to enter into any correspondence with anyone representing the eligible shows.