The Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award in Playwriting

In an effort to understand, promote, and honor the convergence of art, science, and real life, the Neukom Institute for Computational Science at Dartmouth established the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Awards in 2018, a global award program to honor creative works around speculative fiction. The annual awards distributed by the Institute include one in playwriting.

About the Awards

The Neukom Institute Literary Arts Awards

"What does it mean to be human in a computerized, digital world?"

In an effort to understand, promote, and honor the convergence of art, science, and real life, The Neukom Institute for Computational Science at Dartmouth announced in late 2017 the establishment of the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Awards, a global award program to honor creative works around speculative fiction. The program includes three distinct categories, including one specifically for playwriting. The Neukom Institute is dedicated to supporting and inspiring computational work, and the Literary Arts Awards is part of the Institute's initiative to explore the ways in which computational ideas have an impact on society.

The annual award comes with a $5,000 honorarium; winning plays are also workshopped in a two-stage development process over the course of the subsequent year. Staged reading performances take place as part of the Department of Theater's annual summer VoxFest residency and during New Works Now, the annual January festival of new plays at Northern Stage, a LORT-D theater in White River Junction, VT led by Artistic Director and Dartmouth Professor Carol Dunne. 

The 2021 Award in Playwriting

Submitting your work

Submissions are now being accepted for the 2021 Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award for Playwriting. Submissions of full-length plays and other full-length works for the theater will be accepted; all submissions must address the question "What does it mean to be a human in a computerized, digitized world?" Playwrights with either traditional or experimental theater pieces, including multimedia productions, are encouraged to submit works to the award program.

As in the past, the award comes with a $5,000 honorarium as well as a support for a two-stage development process with table readings at local arts festivals/organizations. Note that works that have received a full production are NOT eligible for the competition. 

The deadline for all submissions is January 15, 2021. The awards will be announced in the spring of 2021.
 
Submissions must include:

  • An anonymized (blinded) copy of the piece
  • Playwright resume/bio
  • Production history of the piece
  • One-page statement of purpose that answers the following questions:
    • How does your piece address the theme of exploring humanity in our computerized, digital world?"
    • What are your goals for the piece in its current form?
    • How would you use the two-part development process to achieve these goals?

The winning piece will receive two readings, at Dartmouth's VoxFest in July 2021 and at Northern Stage in White River Junction VT, during their 2021/2022 season.

Submissions may be made via THIS GOOGLE FORM.

Questions? Email Emma Orme at vox@voxtheater.org

Past Winners

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Deborah Yarchun

2020

Drive, by Deborah Yarchun
Override, by Elizabeth Keel (runner-up)

Playbill.com article available HERE

VoxFest 2020 performance details: Override
VoxFest 2020 performance details: Drive

 

 

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Francisco Mendoza

2019

Machine Learning, by Francisco Mendoza
American Theatre Magazine article available HERE

 

 

 

 

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Jessica Andrewartha

2018

Choices People Make, by Jessica Andrewartha
American Theatre Magazine article available HERE