The 16th Street Foundation Cooper Prize

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Deadline: December 15, 2023

The 16th Street Foundation invites writers to apply for a prestigious new prize for dramatic writing.

The Cooper Prize is a new Australian playwriting prize that seeks to populate our cultural conversation with a wide range of artistic perspectives. It seeks to advance the principles of open enquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement.

All voices willing to tackle the most challenging themes with empathy, intelligence and nuance are welcome and dramatists with heterodox perspectives are especially encouraged to apply.

The winning playwright will receive a $10,000 prize and their work will be considered for a full commission for production.

All finalists will receive a professionally directed public reading of their submitted scene with professional actors.

“Freedom of Speech starts with Freedom of Mind. I believe that Culture and the Arts are upstream (more important) than politics and economics. I am delighted to support the 16th Street Foundation through this new writing prize. My hope is that writers will endeavour to be courageous and fiercely fight for the right to speak freely and wisely” shares Peter Cooper, Founder of Cooper Investors Pty Ltd.

Dramatists are invited to submit an idea for a dramatic production no longer than three paragraphs, a treatment, and a scene between 10 and 20 minutes in length.

We look forward to receiving a diverse range of submissions that explore the complexities of life and challenge our understanding of the world around us.

Applications are to be submitted to admin@16thstreet.com.au by December 15, 2023.