Ten finalists have been chosen for the 2020 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, including DG members FRANCES YA-CHU COWHIG for The King of Hell’s Palace, ALESHEA HARRIS for What to Send Up When It Goes Down, and ANNE WASHBURN for her play Shipwreck.
The Blackburn Prize, which is the oldest and largest prize awarded to women playwrights for a play written for the English-speaking theatre, will be announced March 2, 2020. The winner will be awarded a cash prize of $25,000 a signed print by Willem de Kooning, created especially for the Prize, and each of the finalists will receive an award of $5,000.
Established in 1978, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize is given annually to recognize women who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre. The Prize is administered in Houston, London and New York by a board of directors who choose six Judges each year, three from each side of the Atlantic. Each year, a specified list of professional theatres throughout the English-speaking world is invited to submit plays for consideration. Plays are received in September, and the award ceremony is held in February or March. Plays must be full-length. Plays are eligible whether or not they have been produced, but any premiere production must have occurred within the preceding calendar year. Previous winners are not eligible.
