Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks, Moonlight Oscar nominee Tarell Alvin McCraney, and Thomas Bradshaw are among the winners of the 2017 Poets, Essayists and Novelists (PEN) America Literary Awards.
The three playwrights are honored in the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Awards category, which recognizes writers in three sub categories: a mid-career playwright with an outstanding voice; an emerging playwright who demonstrates great promise; and a master playwright with the presentation of a specially commissioned art object. The awards come with a cash prize ranging from $2,500–$7,500.
The winners and their respective categories follow:
Master American Dramatist: Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog, Father Comes Home From the Wars…)
American Playwright in Mid-Career: Tarell Alvin McCraney (In the Red and Brown Water, In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue)
Emerging American Playwright: Thomas Bradshaw (Intimacy, Job)
This year’s judges included Oskar Eustis, Michael C. Hall, and Young Jean Lee.
Previous PEN Award-winning dramatists include Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, Horton Foote, Richard Foreman, Maria Irene Fornes, John Guare, Lanford Wilson, Wallace Shawn, Adrienne Kennedy, A. R. Gurney, Richard Nelson, Sam Shepard, David Mamet, David Henry Hwang, Christopher Durang, Larry Kramer, David Rabe, Tina Howe, and Lynn Nottage.
