Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti (born

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

) is a British Sikh writer who has written extensively for stage, screen and radio. Her play ''

Behzti ''Behzti'' ( Punjabi ਬੇਇੱਜ਼ਤੀ, ''Dishonour'') is a play written by the British Sikh playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti. The play sparked controversy in the United Kingdom in December 2004. A controversial scene set in a Gurdwara ( ...

'' (''Dishonour'') was cancelled by the Birmingham Rep after protests against the play by Sikhs turned violent and alleged death threats forced Bhatti to go into hiding.

Life

Bhatti's first play, ''Behsharam'' (''Shameless''), received criticism from the Sikh community when it opened in 2001. In 2005, ''Behzti'' won the

Susan Smith Blackburn Prize The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize established in 1978, is the largest and oldest playwriting prize for women+ writing for English-speaking theatre. Named for Susan Smith Blackburn (1935–1977), alumna of Smith College, who died of breast cancer. W ...

for the best English language play written by a woman.

'Bezhti' author wins prize for women playwrights
Louise Jury,

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, 8 March 2005, retrieved 9 June 2009 In 2010, her follow-up to ''Behzti'' titled '' Behud'' (''Beyond Belief'') was co-produced by Soho Theatre and Coventry Belgrade and was shortlisted for the

John Whiting Award Between 1965 and 2010, the John Whiting Award (from 2007 renamed the Peter Wolff Trust Supports the John Whiting Award) was awarded annually to a British or Commonwealth playwright who, in the opinion of a consortium of UK theatres, showed a new ...

. In 2014, ''Khandan'' (''Family'') opened to sell-out audiences at the Birmingham Rep and the Royal Court Theatre. In June 2014, her first anthology of plays, ''Plays One'' (), was published by Oberon Books. She is now working on a stage commission for the National Theatre. Bhatti also regularly writes for ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural settin ...

'', the Radio 4 drama serial.

Awards

* 2003 Nominated for the ''Race in the Media Award'' by the

Commission for Racial Equality The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to address racial discrimination and promote racial equality. The commission was established in 1976, and disbanded in 2007 when its ...

in the radio music/entertainment category for ''North East South West''. * Asian Women of Achievement awards, nominated twice * 2005

, a US-based award of $10,000 made annually to the best English language play by a woman, for ''Behzti''. * 2010 ''Behud'' (''Beyond Belief'') nominated for the

Works

Plays

* Soho Theatre, London 2001 * ''

'' The Door, Birmingham Rep, Birmingham, UK 2005 * ''Come to Where I'm From'', , Listen to th
Podcast at Painesplough
* Soho Theatre, London 2010 * ''Londonee'', Mukul and Ghetto Tigers and Lifeguard Productions * ''Two Old Ladies'', Leicester Haymarket 2000 * ''Fourteen'' (2014), Watford Palace Theatre commissioned ‘Fourteen’ after Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti wrote a short play for ‘Come To Where I’m From’ in 2010, co-produced by Watford Palace Theatre and Paines Plough * ''Khandan'' (Family) (2014), A Royal Court Theatre and Birmingham Repertory Theatre Co-production

Radio, films, teleplays

*
Heart of Darkness
' (Feb 2013)
StoneBBC Radio 4
* ''

'' (2012),BBC Radio 4
* ''

Everywhere and Nowhere ''Everywhere and Nowhere'' is a 2011 coming of age British drama film focusing on the identity struggles of Ash ( James Floyd) a young British Pakistani who is torn between the traditions of middle-class family life and his passion for DJing. The ...

'', feature film, 2011 * ''Dead Meat'', half-hour film produced by Channel 4 as part of the Dogma TV season * ''Stitched Up'', Commissioned Series for BBC1 * ''Honour'', single Film for BBC2 * ''The Cleaner'', hour-long film for BBC1 * ''Lipstick and Nails'', police drama for Great Meadow Productions * ''Pound Shop Boys'', originally commissioned by October Films/Film Council/Scottish Screen and developed through PAL * ''Airport 2000'', Leicester Haymarket / Riverside Studios *
An Enemy of the People
', 2010, hour-long episode for

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

*
Fourteen Units a Week
', 2010
''From Fact to Fiction'', BBC Radio 4
* ''Mera Des'' (My Country), BBC Radio 3 * ''My Lithuanian Lady'', BBC World Service * ''Westway'', over thirty episodes – 1999-2001 – of the BBC World Service Radio Drama Series * ''Eastenders''
BBC 1
nine episodes – 2001-04

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatti, Gurpreet Kaur Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English screenwriters British women screenwriters English dramatists and playwrights People from Watford English people of Indian descent Alumni of the University of Bristol English Sikhs Punjabi people