PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award

The PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Awards is awarded by the PEN American Center "to a Grand Master of American Theater and a playwright in mid-career."

"Two playwrights are selected for the following honors: a specially commissioned art object will be presented to a master American dramatist, in recognition of his or her body of work; and a cash prize of $7,500 will be awarded to an American playwright in mid-career, whose literary achievements are vividly apparent in the rich and striking language of his or her work. In both cases, PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater honorees are writers working indisputably at the highest level of achievement. The awards were developed to reflect Laura Pels’s dedication to supporting excellence in American theatre as well as PEN’s commitment to recognizing and rewarding the playwright’s literary accomplishment."

Candidates for the Grand Master of American Theater are nominated by the judges.

Candidates for the award to an American playwright in mid-career may be nominated by their peers, producers, agents, critics, or other playwrights.

Award winners

• 1998 Arthur Miller and Richard Greenberg
• 1999 Edward Albee and Paula Vogel
• 2000 Horton Foote and Suzan-Lori Parks
• 2001 Richard Foreman and Charles L. Mee
• 2002 Maria Irene Fornes and Tony Kushner
• 2003 John Guare and Craig Lucas
• 2004 Lanford Wilson and Lynn Nottage
• 2005 Wallace Shawn and Dael Orlandersmith
• 2006 Adrienne Kennedy and Stephen Adly Guirgis
• 2007 A.R. Gurney and Naomi Iizuka
• 2008 Richard Nelson (playwright) and Sarah Ruhl
• 2009 Sam Shepard and Nilo Cruz
• 2010 David Mamet and Theresa Rebeck
• 2011 David Henry Hwang and Marcus Gardley

External links

• PEN American Center
• Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Awards for Drama Winner's Archive