BLUE INK AWARD for playwriting

The nationally-renowned Blue Ink Award for playwriting was created in 2010 to support new work. Since inception, we’ve named 15 Award winners, 172 finalists, and 258 semi-finalists. Nearly $20,000 in cash prizes and development were distributed to playwrights in 2025.

Each year American Blues Theater accepts worldwide submissions of original, unpublished full-length plays. The winning play will be selected by Executive Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and the theater’s Ensemble. The 2025 winning playwright receives a monetary prize of $3,000 and a staged-reading in Chicago. Cash prizes are awarded to finalists and semi-finalists too.  There are no submission fees to enter.

Read the GUIDELINES for the 2026 Blue Ink Award competition.

Send any questions to – Info@AmericanBluesTheater.com.

Learn more about our 2025 Blue Ink Award winner, finalists, and semi-finalists >>

Learn about our 2025 Blue Ink Festival that featured work from winner Alyssa Haddad-Chin and featured finalists Erlina Ortiz and LaDarrion Williams.

2026 BLUE INK AWARD (coming in March 2026)

TBD

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Featured Finalists:  TBD

Finalists:  TBD

Semi-finalists:  TBD

Read about the 2026 BLUE INK AWARD WINNER, FINALISTS, & SEMI-FINALISTS 2025 BLUE INK AWARD WINNER, FINALISTS, & SEMI-FINALISTS.

PREVIOUS BLUE INK AWARD WINNERS

2025 – You Should Be So Lucky by Alyssa Haddad-Chin
2024 – The Conquered by Ken Urban | world premiere American Blues Theater, Chicago 2026-2027
2023 – Things With Friends by Kristoffer Diaz | world premiere American Blues Theater, Chicago, 2025
2022 – The Reapers on Woodbrook Avenue by Mardee Bennett
2021 – Refugee Rhapsody by Yussef El Guindi
2020 – Recent Unsettling Events by Andrea Stolowitz
2019 – Alma by Benjamin Benne | world premiere American Blues Theater, Chicago, 2022; Center Theater Group, L.A., 2022
2018 – Welcome to Matteson! by Inda Craig-Galván | world premiere New Jersey Repertory Company, 2023; Congo Square Theatre, Chicago, 2023.
2017 – Hype Man by Idris Goodwin | world premiere Company One, Boston, 2018
2016 – The Wind and the Breeze by Nathan Alan Davis | world premiere Cygnet Theatre, San Diego, 2018
2015 – Other Than Honorable by Jamie Pachino | world premiere Geva Theatre Center, NY, 2017
2014 – Comden Mall Community Activists by Douglas Post
2013 – Graveyard of Empires by Elaine Romero | world premiere 16th Street Theater, Chicago, 2015
2012 – American Myth by Christina Telesca | world premiere American Blues Theater, Chicago, 2014
2011 – American Home by Stephanie Walker | world premiere, Pasadena, CA, 2017

THE RIPPED FESTIVAL

Chicago’s Original – Est. 2009

Now in its 17th year, our annual Ripped Festival is an extended celebration of short plays and playwrights. We’ve presented 24 events and utilized 675+ artists that feature scripts ripped from today’s headlines.

HISTORY – Our Ripped: The Living Newspaper Project began in 2009 with a series of staged readings of short plays based on the 1930s WPA era program “The Living Newspaper” and Federal Writers’ Project, enabling artists such as Ralph Ellison, Susan Glaspell, Zora Neale Hurston, Eugene O’Neill, Studs Terkel, and Richard Wright to launch their careers. In 2013, we expanded our staged readings into the sold-out, one-night-only, annual event – The Ripped Festival. All proceeds of these annual events benefit our free arts education programs. Due to the 2020-2021 pandemic and industry shutdown of live events, we presented The Ripped Festival as an online library, featuring 30 short plays throughout the month of June. Selected scripts were used during a theater course at the University of California – Berkeley. Due to incredible response, our extended celebration of playwrights and short plays continues.

2025 THE RIPPED FESTIVAL
2024 THE RIPPED FESTIVAL
2023 THE RIPPED FESTIVAL ONLINE LIBRARY
2022 THE RIPPED FESTIVAL ONLINE LIBRARY
2021 THE RIPPED FESTIVAL ONLINE LIBRARY