Nominees for Susan Smith Blackburn Prize include Zadie Smith and Anupama Chandrasekhar

The ten nominees for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize have been unveiled.

The international prize celebrated women plus playwrights and their achievements on stages across the world.

Chosen from a group of over 190 plays nominated from around the world, the 2023 finalists are:

– Anupama Chandrasekhar (India) – The Father and the Assassin
– Maryam Hamidi (UK) – Moonset
– Karen Hartman (US) – New Golden Age
– Katie Holly (Ireland) – Her Hand on the Trellis
– Kimber Lee (US) – saturday
– Sarah Mantell (US) – In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot
– a.k. payne (US) – Amani
– Francisca Da Silveira (US) – Pay No Worship
– Zadie Smith (UK) – The Wife of Willesden
– Ruby Thomas (UK) – Linck and Mülhahn

The winners will be revealed at a ceremony in New York City on 27 March 2023, with a cash prize of $25,000 going to the winner with each of the finalists picking up a $5000 award.

This year’s judges are writer Julia Cho (US) (previous winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for The Language Archive), stage director Rebecca Frecknall (UK), choreographer/director Raja Feather Kelly (US), theatrical producer and President of the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) Eleanor Lloyd (UK), celebrated actor/director/writer Lucian Msamati (UK) and star of stage and screen Amy Ryan (US).