The Playwrights Realm Writing Fellowship

web site

About the Program

The Writing Fellows Program is at the heart of what we do—helping writers be writers. Four early-career playwrights will receive nine months of resources, workshops and feedback designed to help them reach their professional and artistic goals. Over the course of the season, Fellows develop a single new play. Monthly group meetings provide a collaborative, energizing setting for writers to share and refine their work. Individual meetings with the Realm’s Artistic Director, Associate Producer, and Writing Fellows Dramaturg support each writer’s specific artistic process. Fellows work with a director and cast over the course of two workshops to see their work come to life. Professional development resources are also an integral part of the program and are tailored to the individual Writing Fellows. Mentor opportunities, meet-and-greets, and professional workshops are designed to shed light on the often opaque business of theatre, and empower the Fellows to be active, informed participants in their own careers. The Writing Fellows season culminates in a public reading of each fellowship play as part of our INK’D Festival of New Plays.

What We're Looking For

Above all, we look for dedicated early-career writers who crave a long-term, rigorous development process. We value intellectual curiosity, imagination and bravery. We love plays with evocative language, plays that contemplate big, unanswerable questions, plays that embrace the complexity of life, and demonstrate an understanding of the possibilities of dramatic storytelling.

Writing Fellows Receive...

$2,500 Award
A monthly Writers Group
Internal workshop
Professional Development Opportunities
A public reading in our INK'D Festival
Access to all our resources: borrow our wi-fi, camp out in our conference room, use our stickies
The occasional hug

Program Criteria


• Playwrights must be able to attend meetings and workshops in New York City on a twice-monthly basis from September 2015 through May 2016.

• Playwrights should identify as early-career. Those who have completed an MFA program are eligible, but not those who will be enrolled during the residency.

• Plays to be considered for the fellowship should be complete drafts at a stage of development that would benefit from a nine-month rewriting and reading process. Plays should have no commitments to other theaters that will limit their development with The Playwrights Realm.

• Plays that have already been through a similar development process, or have had a production outside of an academic environment, are not eligible.

• We are not looking for solo performance projects at this time.

Writing Fellows Application Components


• Completed application form. CLICK TO DOWNLOAD.

• Theatrical résumé listing all academic credentials and professional productions

• Full draft of the play that you wish to develop as a Playwrights Realm Writing Fellow in PDF format.

• A list of three references with contact information, or a signed letter of recommendation from a teacher or theater professional (optional).


To apply, send the above materials to: writingfellows@playwrightsrealm.org

The script must be submitted in PDF format with your name and the play title on a cover page

All applications must be submitted electronically before May 10th, 2015, 11:59PM EST.
Finalists for the program will be interviewed in late summer and final selections will be announced in September.