The Playwrights Realm Announces April 30 Deadline for Professional Writing Fellowships Applications

The Playwrights Realm <www.playwrightsrealm.org>, under the leadership of Artistic Director Katherine Kovner, is accepting applications for its 2012-2013 Playwriting Fellowships through April 30.

Playwrights Realm is seeking four dedicated, early-career writers who crave a long-term, rigorous dramaturgical process.

"We’re looking for playwrights with a strong sense of storytelling and new stories to tell. Playwrights Realm values intellectual curiosity, evocative language and the contemplation of big unanswerable questions; stories that embrace the complexity of life and demonstrate an understanding of the possibilities of dramaturgical structure." says Ms. Kovner.

Playwrights Realm fellows will each receive a $2,000 stipend to work on a new play over the next nine months. Fellows work one-on-one with the artistic director and staff to bring their play from a rough draft to a production-ready state through a process of monthly review and revision in a challenging, motivating environment. Not the standard creative development process, the Writing Fellows program is at the heart Playwrights Realm. Each Playwrights Realm fellow will have a customized residency that includes guiding creative development as well as professional development. The entire experience is designed to widen an artist’s network of resources and gain a foothold in the New York theater world

Details on the program and its criteria and the application to apply are at  www.playwrightsrealm.org/programs/writing-fellows/apply.

On April 17, Playwrights Realm will celebrate its fifth birthday with a Writers Block Party at The Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, at 6:00pm, the proceeds of which will go toward supporting the fellowships. Writers Block Party’s highlights at the museum include private viewing of Cindy Sherman and the announcement of Playwrights Realm's 2012-2013 Season. Playwrights Realm 2012 Writing Fellow Ethan Lipton will perform an early acapella song from his irreverent, jazzy and quirky oeuvre.

Tickets for the celebration range from $150 (single ticket) to $1,000, with V.I.P. Museum access starting at $500. Tickets can be purchased online at www.playwrightsrealm.org, via phone at 212-255-3089 or via email at tickets@playwrightsrealm.org.

The Playwrights Realm Fellowship program is funded in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.