The 29th annual honor — which includes a cash award of $10,000 — recognizes the women dramatist whose works represent outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre. A Special Commendation of $2,000 can be awarded at the judges' discretion. Each finalist receives $1,000. The Awards will be presented in London or New York in late February.
The finalists (and works for which they are nominated for) follow:
Playwrights Amelia Bullmore and Elizabeth Kuti won last year's 28th annual Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (splitting the two top prizes) for Mammals and The Sugar Wife, respectively. Other recipients of the honor include Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's Behzti (Dishonour), Sarah Ruhl's The Clean House, Dael Orlandersmith's Yellowman, Susan Miller's A Map of Doubt and Rescue, Gina Gionfriddo's U.S. Drag, Bridget Carpenter's Fall, Charlotte Jones' Humble Boy, Jessica Goldberg's Refuge, Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive and Moira Buffini's Silence. The Susan Smith Blackburn Award, named for the noted American actress and writer, was established in 1978. Submissions for this year's prize include works penned in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
Plays are eligible whether or not they have been produced, but any first production must have taken place within the preceding 12 months. This year's finalists were chosen from approximately 90 submissions.
