NLPA Submission Information

Submissions for the National Latine Playwrights Award are closed at this time. 

Latine playwrights residing in the United States, its territories or Mexico are encouraged to submit scripts for the award. Each script will be read and evaluated by a culturally diverse panel of theatre artists; finalists will be judged by ATC artistic staff.

Eligibility

• The award is open to all Latine playwrights currently residing in the United States, its territories, or Mexico.
• Scripts may be in English, Spanish, or a combination of the two (Spanish scripts must be accompanied by an English translation).
• Plays must be unpublished, professionally unproduced, and not currently under option at the time of submission.
• Full-length and one-act plays, with a minimum length of 50 pages, on any subject will be accepted.

Scripts

The physical scripts become the property of Arizona Theatre Company and will not be returned. In this case, “property” means the physical property of the theatre, not the intellectual property or any rights to the play.

Application requirements include:

• Submissions of a single script can be sent via email to NLPA@atc.org.
• Include a cover letter of no more than one page describing the play’s developmental history and how the play fits into the playwright’s broader career trajectory.

For more information contact Elaine Romero, ATC Playwright-in-Residence.

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Previous recipients include Kristoffer Diaz (Pulitzer Prize Finalist, 2024 Tony Nominee), Marisela Treviño Orta (Pen Center USA Literary Award recipient), Caridad Svich (2012 Obie Award winner), Carlos Murillo (National Playwright Residency Program Mellon Foundation), Octavio Solis (NEA Fellowship), Karen Zacarías (Helen Hayes Award recipient) and Luis Alfaro (MacArthur Fellowship or “genius” grant recipient). Of the past 26 recipients, only two have not yet gone on to productions across the United States and around the world. ATC’s long history of recognizing Latine voices is echoed in its embrace of new work that does not neatly comport to genre, form, or subject.   

Notable recent winners include, Charise Castro Smith, co-writer of Disney hit “Encanto” (Golden Globe, Winner, Best Motion Picture, Animated) which was also the only animated title nominated in the Globes music categories, Benjamin Benne for “Alma,” a world premiere in production at the Center Theatre Group, and Eliana Pipes for “Dream Hou$e,” which also won the Leah Ryan’s FEWW playwriting prize in 2019 and the KCACTF The Harold & Mimi Steinberg Award in 2020.

Click here for more information about the NLPA program, the NLP Award & Festival and this year’s award recipient, David A. Tucker II.