NEW YORK CITY: The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced the 10 finalists for its playwriting award, the oldest and largest prize awarded to female playwrights. The finalists, selected from more than 150 plays, are Clare Barron for Dance Nation; Zinnie Harris for This Restless House; Amy Herzog for Mary Jane; Charlene James for Cuttin’ It; Charley Miles for Blackthorn; Dominique Morisseau for Pipeline; Lizzie Nunnery for Narvik; Somalia Seaton for Fall of the Kingdom, Rise of the Foot Soldier; Jen Silverman for The Moors; and Penelope Skinner for Linda.
The judges for this year’s prize are Maria Aberg, Nina Sosanya, Jenny Worton, Evan Cabnet, Sarah Paulson, and Robert O’Hara.
The 2017 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize winner will be named at an awards ceremony on March 6 at Playwrights Horizons. The selected playwright will receive a cash prize of $25,000, and a signed print by Willem de Kooning created for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Finalists will each receive $5,000.
The Houston-based Susan Smith Blackburn Prize is named after American actor and writer Susan Smith Blackburn. She grew up in Houston and lived in London for the last 15 years of her life. Since the award’s inception in 1978, more than 350 playwrights have been honored as finalists.
