Submissions Now Open for American Blues Theater’s Blue Ink Playwriting Award

American Blues Theater, under the continued leadership of Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside, announces the submission period for the National 2021 Blue Ink Playwriting Award. Playwrights are invited to submit one (1) manuscript for consideration. The submission period runs July 1 – August 31, 2020. Submissions are accepted at AmericanBluesTheater.com.

Previous winners include Andrea Stolowitz’ Recent Unsettling Events (2020), Benjamin Benne’s ALMA (2019), Inda Craig-Galván’s Welcome to Matteson! (2018), Idris Goodwin’s Hype Man (2017), Nathan Alan Davis’s The Wind and the Breeze (2016), and Jamie Pachino’s Other Than Honorable (2015).

About the Blue Ink Playwriting Award
The international Blue Ink Playwriting Award was created in 2010 to support new work. Since inception, American Blues Theater has named 10 Award winners, 79 finalists, and 109 semi-finalists. Over $6,000 in cash and prizes were distributed to playwrights in 2020.

Each year American Blues Theater accepts worldwide submissions of original, unpublished full-length plays. The winning play is selected by Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and the theater’s Ensemble. The playwright receives a monetary prize of $1,250. Finalists and semi-finalists receive cash awards as well.

Submissions for the 2021 Blue Ink Playwriting Award open July 1, 2020. All submissions must be received by American Blues Theater by August 31, 2020 at 11:59pm. Playwrights may only submit one (1) manuscript each year for consideration.

About American Blues Theater
Winner of the American Theatre Wing’s prestigious National Theatre Company Award, American Blues Theater is a premier arts organization with an intimate environment that patrons, artists, and all Chicagoans call home. American Blues Theater explores the American identity through the plays it produces and communities it serves.
The diverse and multi-generational artists have established the second-oldest professional Equity Ensemble theater in Chicago. The 32-member Ensemble has 600+ combined years of collaboration on stage. As of 2020, the theater and artists received 217 Joseph Jefferson Awards and nominations that celebrate excellence in Chicago theater and 38 Black Theatre Alliance Awards. The artists are honored with Pulitzer Prize nominations, Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades.