South Lanarkshire audiobook narrator, Helen McAlpine, has won the Narrator of the Year award for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s annual Industry Awards for 2022. The awards celebrate the hard work and talent of any person, group or organisation who has championed the broad genre of romantic fiction in a positive way.

Helen, who lives in Biggar, graduated from Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh, in 2001 and since then has worked extensively in theatre, television, radio and voice over. Her recent credits include Peaches and Mama Jones in Netflix’s animated series Ridley Jones (UK edit), and Pinkie, Boo Whale, Black Cat and Ruby in new animated series Mumfie. She is married to a lovely man with a fantastic beard and lives happily with their two children and two dogs near the Scottish Borders.

She commented, I’m absolutely thrilled to bits to have won Narrator of the Year at this year’s RNA Industry Awards. It was genuinely unexpected and I feel incredibly lucky. For a writer to trust me with a story and characters that they’ve worked so hard to create is a privilege. I can’t wait to tell more stories!’

Laura James, the RNA Industry Awards organiser, added, ‘Congratulations to the 2022 RNA Industry Awards winners. Thank you for your love, passion and continued support for romantic fiction.’

Sue Moorcroft, Head Judge for the Industry Awards, also congratulated Helen. ‘With such a wonderful set of shortlists it was always certain that the judges of this year’s Industry Awards would return an outstanding list of winners. Choosing between excellent candidates was an exacting task and I enjoyed being a part of the stimulating discussion around each and every nomination. My thanks to my fellow judges for the hard work and detailed research that went into the selection process, and to Laura James and Melanie Griffiths from the RNA for their efficient organisation. They made my job easy. Most of all – congratulations to the winners of these wonderful awards!’

The awards have been held for the past eight years and are highly respected in the UK publishing industry. The finalists are nominated by the full and probationary membership of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, with a panel of independent judges selecting the shortlists and winners. The award categories for this year were as follows: The Romantic Bookseller of the Year, Inclusion Award, Indie Champion of the Year, Library or Librarian of the Year, Indie Editor of the Year, Cover Designer of the Year, Narrator of the Year, Media Star of the Year, Agent of the Year, and Publisher and/or Editor of the Year.

The winners of the ten awards were announced during the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Winter Party and Industry Awards ceremony, which was held at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London City on Friday 11th November 2022.

This year’s awards were sponsored by ProWritingAid, a manuscript editing software programme with in-app video learning for writers.