Q. Is there an entry fee to submit my work?

A. We don’t need no stinkin’ entry fee.

Q. How can I best prepare my submission?

A. First, spend some time getting to know Doric Wilson. Here’s his Wikipedia page. Here he is accepting his Artistic Achievement award at the NY Innovative Theater Award. Read his plays. “Street Theater” is a modern American classic, set on Christopher Street on the first night of Stonewall.

As you’ll soon discern, Doric was larger than life, a force of nature. His plays are (and he was) smart, funny and ferocious. He wrote about people whose stories hadn’t been told before, and was an activist and creator of communities. He marched, protested, made theater, helped others make theater, and LOVED going to the theater. He had an amazing laugh and when he was in the house, you could hear it.

Submit a play of yours that tells a story that hasn’t been told. Tell YOUR story. It can be a produced work, or unproduced; the play that is closest to your heart, or truest to your voice.

Q. What should be in my bio or resume?

A. It can be the standard one you submit to playbills or from your website.

Q. Now what about that artistic statement? And how long should it be?

A. As long as it needs to be. If you can say it in a paragraph, say it. If it takes a page, say it. We’d encourage you NOT to make it more than 2-3 pages.

Your artistic statement is important. The Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award is about being an artist AND a community builder. The winners of this award, along with being outstanding playwrights, are people who have founded theater companies, curate festivals, help other playwrights reach new audiences, and are part of the organizations that make their communities (all of them) more vital places.

So spend some time talking about what drives you, and the things you do that make you a community builder. Tell us how you help others get to where they need to be and celebrate them.

Q. What happens after I submit my application?

A. It will be catalogued and checked to make sure you fit the submission guidelines. A panel of working indie theater artists, including most of the previous award winners will judge the submissions. (The award winner is invited to join the committee each year.)

The panel will read the submissions, including the artistic statements, and record their decisions to be shared with the rest of the panel. Depending on how many applications are received, there will be semi-finalists and finalists.

When the finalists are selected, the panel will discuss and vote on the winner.

The winner will receive an unrestricted cash grant and a commemorative trophy at the NY Innovative Theater Awards in the Summer of 2021

If you have any further questions, please feel free to address them to the Award Committee at doricwilsonaward@gmail.com.