Kesselring Prize for Playwriting Awarded to Inda Craig-Galván

The National Arts Club (NAC) has selected Inda Craig-Galván as the recipient of the 2019 Kesselring Prize for playwriting. Since 1980, the $25,000 award has been presented to an outstanding playwright deserving of national recognition. Ms. Craig-Galván will receive the honor - which also includes a two-week writing residency at the storied National Arts Club - during a ceremony on Monday, November 4 at 6pm at 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY. The evening features readings of the winning playwright's work and is free and open to the public. Guests should RSVP to kesselring@thenationalartsclub.org.

Ms. Craig-Galván, who was nominated by The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, is one of 17 playwrights nationwide whose works were submitted for the Kesselring, by theaters in eight states and the District of Columbia. Geffen Playhouse nominated the author for her tragicomic play BLACK SUPER HERO MAGIC MAMA, about a mother who magically turns into a superhero while mourning the shooting death of her unarmed teenage son by police. In his review of BLACK SUPER HERO MAGIC MAMA earlier this year, Los Angeles Times critic Charles McNulty wrote, "The play is impressively daring, and escapes into a comic-book universe to better come to grips with an overwhelming - and all too real - American horror."

David Glanstein, Chair of the Kesselring Prize Committee, notes that the award to Ms. Craig-Galván marks the third time in four years that the Kesselring has been presented to a woman playwright: Lauren Yee won the award in 2017, and Lindsey Ferrentino was chosen in 2016, nominated that year also by Geffen Playhouse.

Ms. Craig-Galván's numerous plays - which also include I GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, A HIT DOG WILL HOLLER and WELCOME TO MATTESON! - have been developed and/or produced at The Geffen Playhouse, Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Old Globe, San Francisco Playhouse and Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. In addition to the Kesselring Prize, her honors include Kilroys List, Steppenwolf's The Mix, Kennedy Center Rosa Parks Playwriting Award, Blue Ink Award, Humanitas Prize Play LA and Princess Grace Award. She has written for the acclaimed TV series GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER and THE ROOKIE.

The NAC also announces that Stephen Adly Guirgis, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY, is a Kesselring judge for the first time this year, joining long-standing judges Anne Cattaneo, Lincoln Center Theater dramaturg, and the renowned playwright John Guare. Michael Parva is the Kesselring Prize Artistic Director.

The Kesselring Prize was established in 1980 by Charlotte Kesselring - widow of the playwright Joseph Kesselring (ARSENIC AND OLD LACE) - to honor and support emerging writers who are not yet nationally recognized, and provide them with an honorarium and indirect support towards development of their work. Past recipients over the years include Lucas Hnath, Tony Kushner, Nicky Silver, Melissa James Gibson, Deb Margolin, Anna Deavere Smith and Rajiv Joseph. The prize is administered by The National Arts Club.

Photo credit: Julian Juaquin