The 2009 winners for Distinguished Playwright are Nilo Cruz, Michael Weller and Lanford Wilson. The Emerging Playwright winners are Zakiyyah Alexander, Bathsheba Doran, Michael Golamco, Deborah Laufer and Justin Sherin.

Each of the eight playwrights will receive $20,000 awards from the Helen Merrill Fund in The New York Community Trust on Oct. 2 at the Algonquin Hotel.

Playwright Chris Durang, a member of the selection committee, said in a statement, "Helen was my first agent, and I stayed with her for 22 years, until her death. She would often offer to loan money to clients who were feeling strapped, and when I was ill, she surprised me by making the most delicious chicken soup and then sending it to me by messenger.

"She didn't worry about her commissions, she just believed in the theater and in the individual playwright's voice. Helen lived so frugally—in a second floor walk-up and with a tiny half-kitchen—that I was surprised to learn how much money she had amassed to leave to The Trust."

Past winners of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award include David Adjmi, David Auburn, Tanya Barfield, Neal Bell, Brooke Berman, Constance Congdon, Kara Lee Corthron, Jorge Ignacio Cortinas, Angela Eisa Davis, Margaret Edson, Will Eno, Marcus Gardley, Gina Gionfriddo, Jessica Goldberg, Noah Haidle, Robert Handel, Amy Herzog, Albert Innaurato, Len Jenkin, Robert Kerr, Oni Faida Lampley, Tina Howe, Victor Lodato, Deborah Margolin, Dael Orlandersmith, David Rabe, Adam Rapp, Keith Reddin, Sarah Ruhl, Wallace Shawn, Theodora Skipitares, Victoria Stewart, Gary Sunshine, Samuel Brett Williams and Tracey Scott Wilson.