NEW YORK CITY: Stephen Karam and Zinnie Harris have been awarded the 2015 Berwin Lee Playwrights Award, which provides each winner with a $25,000 commission. Both playwrights will be honored at a reception on March 19.
The Berwin Lee Playwrights Awards are given to writers who have not had work produced on Broadway or in the West End. Playwrights are nominated via recommendations from theatre companies in New York and London.
Stephen Karam is the author of Sons of the Prophet, which was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize (it was also published in full in the February 2012 issue of American Theatre). His other works include Speech & Debate, columbinus, and The Humans.
Zinnie Harris is a UK-based playwright and director. Her plays have been widely produced in the UK (including at the Donmar Warehouse and the National Theatre). Stateside, The Wheel was produced at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2013 and Further than the Furthest Thing was produced at Manhattan Theatre Club in 2002.
The Berwin Lee Playwrights Award, now in its second award cycle, was established in 2013; Bathsheba Doran and Lucy Kirkwood were the first recipients. The award is presented by Berwin Lee London New York Playwrights, Inc., founded in 2012 by Dorothy Berwin and Mark Lee.
