A pair of awards from PEN and the Laura Pels Foundation honor a Grand Master of American Theater and an outstanding new voice.

Two playwrights are selected for the following honors: a specially commissioned art object will be presented to a master American dramatist, in recognition of his or her body of work; and a cash prize of $7,500 will be awarded to an American playwright in mid-career, whose literary achievements are vividly apparent in the rich and striking language of his or her work. In both cases, PEN/Laura Pels Foundation honorees are writers working indisputably at the highest level of achievement. The awards were developed to reflect Laura Pels' dedication to supporting excellence in American theatre as well as PEN's commitment to recognizing and rewarding the playwright's literary accomplishment.

Past winners: Richard Nelson and Sarah Ruhl; A.R. Gurney and Naomi Iizuka; Arthur Miller and Richard Greenberg; Edward Albee and Paula Vogel; Horton Foote and Suzan-Lori Parks; Richard Foreman and Charles L. Mee; Maria Irene Fornes and Tony Kushner; John Guare and Craig Lucas; Lanford Wilson and Lynn Nottage; Wallace Shawn and Dael Orlandersmith; Adrienne Kennedy and Stephen Adly Guirgis    

Who is eligible:
1) Candidates for the award to a senior American playwright are proposed by the judges. Nominations are not accepted.

2) Candidates for the award to an American playwright in mid-career must be playwrights writing in English who have had a professional production of at least two full-length works mounted in a theatre of at least 299 seats and contracted specifically for either limited or open runs. Authors who have written only one-acts or books for musicals, or who have only translated the works of others for English-language audiences, will not be considered. The work of writers produced by regional theaters across the United States will be given consideration equal to work produced in major metropolitan centers.

Playwrights may not apply on their own behalf. They must be nominated by their peers—producers, agents, critics, or other playwrights—who are expected to write a letter of support, describing in some detail the literary character of the candidate’s work, accompanied by a list of the candidate’s produced work. 

Deadlines:
Letters of nomination must be received between September 1, 2009 and January 14, 2010. Send inquiries and nominations to:

The PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Awards for Drama
PEN American Center
588 Broadway, Suite 303
New York, NY 10012

*UPDATE: Deadline has been extended to March 1, 2010*

For more information, please contact Nick Burd, Literary Awards Program Manager, at awards@pen.org or (212) 334-1660 ext. 108.