The 8th Annual Yale Young Native Playwright’s Contest is sponsored by the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP) to support the next generation of Native writers. We invite Indigenous writers aged twenty-five years and younger to submit written versions of their plays for consideration by February 1st, 2023. The winner will receive a developmental workshop of their play at Yale and $500 prize. For the first time since 202, we are excited to finally be able to host the YIPAP Festival in person on Yale’s campus this year. Transportation and housing at Yale will be provided to the winner for the duration of the Annual YIPAP Festival (in April or May 2023). Each year the YIPAP Festival consists of a workshop and staged reading of the winning youth play(s), alongside new plays by professional Native playwrights, and the annual Misty Upham Award for Young Native Actors. Contest winners will also have the opportunity to be mentored by a professional Native playwright.
Below, you can find all information for applicants to apply. If you have any further questions, please send us an email at madeline.sayet@yale.edu
For those seeking more guidance YIPAP will also be offering a free online playwriting workshop for Native writers in early January. Dates and times will be announced shortly. Do not hesitate to reach out with any questions.
Once you review the necessary information, please email your submission to madeline.sayet@yale.edu
Thank you for your creativity and passion! We look forward to reading and seeing your work!
For All Applicants:
Applications are due: February 1st 2023
All submissions must be emailed to madeline.sayet@yale.edu
The playwright must be between the ages of 15 and 25 and identify as Indigenous.
Plays must be original scripts of no more than 120 pages and no less than 50 pages (this can vary due to structure, so feel free to email to double check eligibility) and written in standard play-script format with one-inch margins, 12 point Times or Courier font, all pages numbered, a title page, and character list. Plays must be in either Word or PDF format.
Front page of script must list:
- Title of play
- Full name
- Tribal affiliation
- Date of birth
- Home address
- Phone number
*Note: Putting on a play is a collective effort and, as such, the winning playwright will be partnered with a professional Native playwright and/or director to workshop their piece before its staged reading.
We look forward to reading your submissions!
Previous winners of this prestigious award for Native Youth include some of the finest Native playwrights working today: Tara Moses (Seminole), Dillon Chitto (Mississippi Choctaw, Laguna, Isleta Pueblo), Kinsale Drake (Diné), Tomas Endter (Lac La Ronge), Drew Woodson (Western Shoshone), Charli Fool Bear (Yanktonai), Everett Ray George (Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe), Nicholas Martin (Sappony), Isabella Madrigal (Cahuilla Band) , and Reed Adair Bobroff (Diné).