Donja R. Love Names Dominic Colón As Recipient Of Inaugural Write It Out! Prize

Yesterday, on World AIDS Day, playwright Donja R. Love (one in two) and National Queer Theater have announced Dominic Colón (Prospect Ave. or The Miseducation of Juni Rodriguez) as the first recipient of the Write It Out! Prize for playwrights living with HIV. Love personally selected Colón's play THE WAR I KNOW after reading and evaluating the work of four finalists who were chosen by readers from National Queer Theater.

"Dominic Colón writes with such heart and imagination that his characters leap off the page. I laughed, gasped, and found myself in conversation with them over the choices they made. They were so alive that I felt I knew them. His stories intimately hold space for people we seldom see on stage. With his work, Colón addresses HIV/AIDS in a way that forces the conversation forward. What an honor to have him as the inaugural WIO! Prize recipient," said Donja R. Love, creator of the prize, which is part of his Write It Out! program for writers living with HIV.

As the recipient of the WIO! Prize, Colón receives a cash award of $5,000, funded by the Tony and Emmy-winning actor Billy Porter (Kinky Boots, Pose). He also receives additional support from GLAAD to hire a dramaturg in order to develop a new work in the coming year.

"You don't always control what the blessing in your life will look like, but you do control what you do with it! HIV is that blessing! Writing and developing THE WAR I KNOW has not only been one of the greatest joys of my life, but it has also been a major part of my own healing and liberation. Healing and liberation are my prayer for everyone. That is why I write! That is what theater at its best can do. That is what WE at our best can do!" Colón said. "I'm so honored to be the inaugural recipient of the WIO! prize. With the support of WIO!, I can continue to develop THE WAR I KNOW trilogy so that it can inspire healing and liberation to those who need it! And we ALL need it!"

In a conversation between the WIO! Prize founder and the inaugural recipient, Love and Colón discuss the importance of a playwright's prize for people living with HIV and the importance of people living with HIV telling their own stories. Please check out the conversation with an introduction by Hamilton star Javier Muñoz.

Dominic Colón is an award-winning writer and actor from the Bronx. Recent plays include PROSPECT AVE OR THE MISEDUCATION OF JUNI RODRIGUEZ (Rattlestick Theater). Dominic's play THE WAR I KNOW has been developed by the Latinx Playwrights Circle, LAByrinth Theater Company (2021 Barn Series) and SOLFEST (2021). Dominic's short play WHERE'S OUR ANGELS? was a recipient of the 2021 Latinx Playwrights Circle & Pregones/PRTT Greater Good Commission. Selected directing credits include: THE WAR I KNOW (LAByrinth), Eduardo Machado's MARQUITAS (Rattlestick Theater/Pride Plays) & Episodes 4-6 of THE MTA RADIO Plays at Rattlestick Theater. Dominic's half-hour television pilot PAPI, made the inaugural Latinx TV List, a curated list of the ten most promising pilots created by Latinx writers. Dominic was recently selected to be a part of the inaugural cohort of the Sundance Uprise Grant. Currently, Dominic is a staff writer on the upcoming Netflix series, PINK MARINE.

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