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Nominees announced for the inaugural Women's Prize for Playwriting
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The shortlist has been revealed for the 1st Annual Women's Prize for Playwriting. 35 works were selected from a total of 1,169 submissions. The winner will be announced sometime in the autumn with an exact date yet to be confirmed.
## First-ever Women's Prize for Playwriting to announce winner this autumn!
Founded by **Paines Plough** and **Ellie Keel Productions** with **45North** in association with [**Sonia Friedman Productions**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/tickets/sonia-friedman-productions), the new awards ceremony called for texts over 60 minutes in length to be submitted free of charge with a total of 1,169 playwrights reaching out.
The judging panel for selecting the winner features actress and playwright **Maxine Peake** (*Beryl;* *Black Mirror* episode "Metalhead"), playwright and screenwriter **Tanika Gupta**, LAMDA Artistic Director **Sarah Frankcom**, BAFTA Award-winning actress **Monica Dolan** (Rosemary West on *Appropriate Adult*, 2011; *King Lear* and *The Seagull* on stage opposite **Ian McKellen**), playwright **Ella Hickson**, theatre producer and former executive producer of the Donmar Warehouse **Kate Pakenham**, and Kiln Theatre's artistic director **Indhu Rubasingham**. The panel is chaired by literary agent **Mel Kenyon**.
Anyone at least 16 years of age who is a legal resident of the UK and Ireland and who identifies as female is eligible to enter in the contest. The first prize winner with the winning piece will receive a £12,000 monetary prize in respect of an exclusive option for the lead producers of the Prize to co-produce the winning play.
**Ellie Keel Productions** stated: "*The 35 plays on our shortlist are irrefutable proof of the exceptional quality of women's writing for the stage. The authors range from first-time, unproduced playwrights to experienced writers with prestigious credits. The plays themselves are brilliantly diverse in subject matter, size and style. We will be compiling a catalogue of these plays on The Women's Prize for Playwriting website to act as a resource for directors, producers, programmers and other creatives, as each of these plays deserves to have a future life.*"
### First Annual Women's Prize for Playwriting 2020 shortlist of nominees in full
In alphabetical order by title, the nominees are:
*A Rat, A Rat* by **Chloe Yates**
*...blackbird hour* by **Babirye Bukilw**
*Colostrum* by **Olivia Hennessy**
*Contact Centre* by **Victoria Barclay**
*Core* by **Jennifer Lunn**
*Deepa the Saint* by **Sonali Bhattacharyya**
*Everything Must Go* by **Caitlin McEwan**
*EZRA* by **Stella Green**
*Fly Home Butterfly* by **Tife Kusoro**
*Full English* by **Silva Semerciyan**
*Giddyup's Way* by **Ciara Cassoni**
*happy sad virginia!* by **Deborah Acheampong**
*How the Dodo Died and Other Stories* by **Jenny Knotts**
*Leaving Eden* by **Sophia Chetin-Leuner**
*Kelp* by **Gaia Sorcha Fenn**
*My Brother's Keeper* by **Kim Taylor**
*PARADISE STREET* by **Chino Odimba**
*Reasons You Should(n't) Love Me* by **Amy Trigg**
*Red Sky at Night* by **Eve Leigh**
*Savage* by **Jane Bodie**
*Smethwick* by **Yolanda Mercy**
*Static* by **Saskia Livingstone**
*SUPER BLOOD WOLF MAN* by **Alice Allemano**
*The Credibility Assessment* by **Amanda Wilkin**
*THE ESTATE* by **Shaan Sahota**
*The Good People* by **Camilla Whitehill**
*The Sub-Let Next to Heaven* by **Madeleine Accalia**
*The Swell* by **Isley Lynn**
*The Virgins* by **Miriam Battye**
*This Might Not Be It* by **Sophia Leuner**
*We'll Be Who We Are* by **Naomi Obeng**
*WHAT YOU DO WITH THE DEAD IS YOU BURY THEM* by **Selma Dimitrijevic**
*When the Sea Swallows Us Whole* by **Natasha Collie**
*White Tuesday* by **Eve Leigh**
*YOU BURY ME* by **Ahlam**