The second annual Paula Vogel Playwriting Award comes with a cash prize, artistic development support and a staged reading of the recipient's work at the Vineyard. Last season's inaugural recipient was The Brothers Size playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney.

Joseph, a 2004 graduate of NYU's MFA program in Dramatic Writing, has penned Huck and Holden, Bengal Tiger in the Baghdad Zoo, The Leopard and the Fox and Animals Out of Paper; the latter will be presented by Second Stage Theatre Uptown this summer.

Vineyard artistic director Douglas Aibel described Joseph's work as "a remarkable and original mix of sharp, smart writing, emotional pathos, and magical, imaginative theatricality."

Aibel's associate artistic director Sarah Stern commented, "Mr. Joseph's writing reflects his deep interest in the ways in which history and politics shape individual lives in our present moment. He explores these complex questions with nuance, humor, and always with an eye towards his characters' humanity."

The honored playwrights are selected by a rotating committee composed of member's of the Vineyard artistic staff and of its resident community of artists. The Vineyard first produced Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive Off-Broadway in 1997 as well as her recent work The Long Christmas Ride Home in 2003.

For more information visit www.vineyardtheatre.org.