McKnight Fellowship in Playwriting
Playwrights’ Center
DEADLINE: December 9, 2021
INFO: The McKnight Fellowship in Playwriting recognizes and supports mid-career playwrights living and working in Minnesota who demonstrate a sustained body of work, commitment, and attributes of artistic merit. The fellowship, which runs July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023, includes: a $25,000 stipend, an additional $2,500 to support a play development workshop and other professional expenses, and $1,400 in travel funds.
Past recipients include: Carlyle Brown, Lisa D'Amour, Barbara Field, Keli Garrett, Marvin González De León, Jeffrey Hatcher, Christina Ham, Tori Sampson, Carson Kreitzer, May Lee-Yang, Kira Obolensky, Harrison David Rivers, Stacey Rose, and Rhiana Yazzie.
Applicants must reside in and have the legal right to work in the U.S. during the fellowship term. Applicants must have been continuous residents of Minnesota since at least December 9, 2020, and must maintain residency in Minnesota during the fellowship year. Applicants must have a minimum of one work fully produced by a professional theater at the time of application. (Note for 2020, 2021, and 2022: any programmed/announced professional productions cancelled due to COVID-19 can be counted as long as they would have met the criteria above. Please be sure to mark cancellations or postponements clearly on your resume).)
Recipients of, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 McKnight Artist Fellowships in any discipline are not eligible. Full-time students are not eligible. Staff and board members of the McKnight Foundation and the Playwrights' Center and their immediate family members are not eligible. Fellowship recipients may not receive any other Playwrights' Center fellowships, grants, or Core Writer program benefits during the grant year. If a recipient is a Core Writer, the Core term will be extended by one year. Applicants may only apply for one McKnight Artist Fellowship each year in any discipline.
pwcenter.org/programs/mcknight-fellowships-in-playwriting
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Latinx Playwrights Circle 2022 Intensive Mentorship
Latinx Playwrights Circle / Primary Stages
DEADLINE: December 15, 2021
INFO: The Latinx Playwrights Circle and Primary Stages are thrilled to open submissions for the 2022 Intensive Mentorship. Each playwright will be mentored throughout a five month process which includes a 2.5 month intensive consisting of strengthening and developing plays. The Intensive Mentorships will culminate with stage readings in Spring of '22. The mentors consist of Migdalia Cruz, Carmen Rivera, Cándido Tirado, and C. Julian Jiménez.
INCLUDES:
Mentorship
Artist Stipend
Artist-Residency at LPC
Bi-weekly Writing Group for 2.5 month intensive
Access to selective Classes at ESPA (Primary Stages' Artist Classes)
Industry Reading
GUIDELINES:
Must be of Latino/a/x/e descent.
Must be NYC (or tri-state) based.
Must have attended at least two NYC Latinx Playwrights Circle Sunday Service (virtually or in person).
Must submit an excerpt from a full length play (no one acts or short plays at this time). While we'd love to support musicals, at this time we are unable to offer the support musicals need for development.
This is a blind submission, please make sure any identifying information is removed from the 10-15 page excerpt and the corresponding full length play.
Play should require no more than 6 performers (double casting is fine).
Excerpt and Full length must have a title page and character breakdown. These will not be counted toward the 10-15 page sample requirement.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe4CkrDVvj018-wMBQWTUzGrzRQ5de0j9gX2N5dF2Iu2Mi8TA/viewform
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FICTION PODCAST CONTEST
Shore Scripts
DEADLINE: December 19, 2021
INFO: Writing a podcast script (or even adapting your existing script for a podcast) means fewer layers between your story and a potential audience of millions. Over 100 million people in the USA listen to at least one Podcast a month and 50% of all US homes have described themselves as “podcast fans”.
And what’s more, each week more Americans listen to Podcasts than have Netflix accounts! In 2021, 28% or 80 million Americans described themselves as weekly Podcast listeners. That is 10 million more weekly Podcast listeners than the 69 million Netflix account owners in the U.S.A.
For writers, the beauty of the fiction podcast format is that it allows you to be increasingly free to tell the story you wish to tell, without having to factor in the kind of budgetary constraints that come with filmmaking.
Many writers, including our Judges, have forged writing careers for themselves through Podcasts. Hollywood is taking notice! A number of podcasts have been adapted for television, including Homecoming, Dirty John, Limetown, Lore, and Blackout.
We have some of the most successful podcast creators onboard to judge our finalists and decide our winners. These include:
Zack Akers – Limetown, 36 Questions
Lauren Shippen – Bridgewater, The Bright Sessions
Richard Seneque - Visionaries
Terry Miles - The Black Tapes, Tanis, Rabbits
Eli Barraza – The Whisperforge
Nick Van Der Kolk - Love and Radio
Jonathan Mitchell - The Truth
Jordan Morris – Earth To Ned, Bubble
We accept screenplay, stage play, and radio-play format.
filmfreeway.com/ShoreScriptsFictionPodcastContest
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: DISRUPTION, DISGUISE AND ILLUMINATIONS
The Caribbean Writer
DEADLINE: December 31, 2021
INFO: The Caribbean Writer (TCW) has issued a call for submissions for Volume 36 under the 2021 theme: Disruption, Disguise and Illuminations. As history meets our day to day experiences, epiphanies unfold; and as we self-interrogate the disruption motifs in many of these illuminations, the roots of prevailing disruptions emerge, complicated by disguise. Submissions exploring this theme in its widest permutations are invited.
Contributors may submit works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, essays or one act plays which explore the ideas resonating within the region and its diaspora. The Caribbean should be central to the work, or the work should reflect a Caribbean heritage, experience or perspective. Prospective authors should submit all creative works: drama, fiction and poetry manuscripts, through the online portal ONLY at www.thecaribbeanwriter.org/online-submission. Submit Word files only (no PDFs) . Note that TCW no longer accepts hardcopy submissions.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Individuals may submit poems (3 maximum), short stories (2 maximum) and personal essays (2 maximum) on general topics as well as on the theme. The maximum length (for short stories and personal essays) is 3500 words. Only previously unpublished work will be considered. The term “previously published” covers print and electronic publication —including on social media platforms, and self-published items. The Caribbean Writer does not accept simultaneous submissions (items being considered for publication elsewhere). The prospective author should provide contact information including mailing address, phone number, any professional affiliations, brief biographical information (no more than 100 words and such as appears under the “Contributors” section of the journal). In the event that the author’s contact information changes, all updates should be made by the author by logging into the online account.
Before submitting, submitter should carefully edit and proofread the manuscript, adhering to publication-ready details, as well as standards of proofreading such as spelling, grammar, punctuation, formatting and consistent language, along with the elimination of typographical errors, and with focus on the overall quality of the work.
The Caribbean Writer is a refereed journal. There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. All submissions undergo an initial blind review by the editor. Creative works, such as fiction, poetry and drama, after editorial review, are advanced by the editor to the double-blind peer review process. In this process, both the reviewers’ and authors’ identities are concealed from the reviewers and vice versa throughout the review process.
Artists interested in having their artwork considered for use by TCW should submit electronic files in vertical format as PNG or JPEG files with a resolution of 300 dpi or greater. The journal also accepts black and white art (line drawings, sketches, block prints, etc.). The journal does not accept graphic poetry or narratives.
thecaribbeanwriter.org/online-submission
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Call for scripts: Short children's plays for 3nd annual Make/Believe festival
Ghostlight Ensemble
DEADLINE: December 31, 2021
ENTRY FEE: $0
INFO: Ghostlight Ensemble, a Chicago-based storefront theatre ensemble, is seeking short scripts (a maximum of 15 minutes) that are geared toward young audiences. Priority will be placed on scripts that are ethnically and culturally diverse, and written by writers of color and/or LGBTQ writers. This is open to playwrights in any geographic area, though writers in the greater Chicago area will receive priority.
PAYMENT: Playwrights will receive $25 per selected script.
Selected plays will be produced summer of 2022 as part of the third annual Make/Believe festival of theatre for children under our Nightlight banner. (Learn more about the 2020 festival here and the 2021 festival here.) This for live, outdoor performances.
Please pay close attention to the script requirements. Scripts that do not meet the following criteria will not be considered.
Requirements
A maximum of 3 actors per script. There are no restrictions, however, on the number of characters. Please note, that while some directors have chosen to use child actors in past pieces, the intent of this festival is to perform for children, not with children.
Plays must have no technical demands, as this will be outside and there is no lighting or backstage area and minimal sound cues will be available.
Must fit our mission.
Geared toward children 10 and under. Please, NO scripts about high school students.
All props, set pieces and costumes must be easily made at home by actors (and children watching who want to stage their own productions at home).
Pieces can be previously produced, but cannot have a production running concurrently with Make/Believe.
Electronic submissions only, please. Submit cover letter with full contact information, short bio, brief synopsis of script including development and production history (if applicable) and full script to Maria Burnham at scripts@ghostlightensemble.com. Please use the following format in the email’s subject line: Nightlight Script Submission: [play name] - [playwright name]
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2022 Residencies
SPACE on Ryder Farm
DEADLINE: January 5, 2022 at 11:59 pm ET
INFO: SPACE on Ryder Farm offers a unique and dynamic atmosphere that nourishes artists and innovators both individually and relationally, allowing them to focus on their work in a significant way. Residents have hours on end to devote to deep thinking and expansive creation. And the relationships that are forged among residents at SPACE offer radiating benefits to the wider artistic community: collaborations are sparked, ideas are challenged, and curiosities are piqued.
Residencies at SPACE are self-determined in order to meet the needs of each individual resident (or group, if attending together). The only requirements at SPACE are that residents attend three communal meals each day, give back two to three hours of their time to Ryder Farm and share some of what they’ve developed while in residence here.
RESIDENCIES:
The Working Farm: The Working Farm is SPACE’s resident writers’ group, which offers five playwrights, composers, lyricists or librettists a non-consecutive five-week residency on Ryder Farm during the course of the annual May-October season.
Family Residency: The Family Residency was founded in association with The Lilly Awards Foundation (spearheaded by Julia Jordan, Marsha Norman and Pia Scala-Zankel), and offers parents and their children (ages 5-12) time and space to work during a residency on Ryder Farm.
Institutional Residency: Institutional Residencies provide 501c(3) organizations and incorporated ensembles with time and space for the writing or workshopping of commissions, strategic planning and retreat opportunities away from the hustle and bustle.
BLKSPACE: This residency, curated and organized by Interfest (Kristen Adele Calhoun and Nikki Vera), offers Black creatives the opportunity to gather communally, play, make art, and breathe with their fellow Black artists.