BLUE INK AWARD for playwriting

Established in 2010 to support original, unpublished plays, the Blue Ink Award has grown into a nationally recognized platform for playwrights. Since its inception, the Award has named 16 winners, 197 finalists, and 283 semi-finalists, while distributing nearly $15,000 annually in cash prizes and development support to artists across the country.

Winning plays have gone on to premiere in major theater markets including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and San Diego, with many playwrights receiving further productions, commissions, and national recognition. Notable past recipients include Idris Goodwin, Benjamin Benne, Elaine Romero, and Kristoffer Diaz.

Each year American Blues Theater accepts worldwide submissions of original, unpublished full-length plays. Submissions for the 2027 Blue Ink Award open August 1, 2026. All submissions must be received by American Blues Theater by August 31, 2026 at 11:59pm. Playwrights may only submit one (1) manuscript each year for consideration.

Guidelines for the 2027 Blue Ink Award will be available June 1, 2026.
Submissions for the 2027 Blue Ink Award open August 1, 2026.

Send any questions to – Info@AmericanBluesTheater.com.

Learn more about our 2026 Blue Ink Award winner, finalists, and semi-finalists >>

2026 BLUE INK AWARD

Overnight at the Museum by Nia Akilah Robinson

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Featured Finalists:  Benjamin Benne (and thou shalt be healed) & Claire Crowley (The Scouts of America Don’t Sell Cookies, B*tch).

Finalists:  Cris Eli Blak (Sing For Me), Ida Cuttler (Moe is a Dick), Alexa Derman (Zionista Rising), Annalisa Dias (The Invention of Seeds), Yussef El Guindi (Slay), Gina Femia (That Time Terri and Lily Took a Road Trip to the Laura Ingalls Wilder House), Sarah Galante (Body Negative ), Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin (Ping Pong Play), Robin Goldberg (Ask Three Times), Idris Goodwin (Scarfoot Lives), Drew Larimore (A Place No One Can See), Victor Lesniewski (Virōdha), Gloria Majule (Possessed (or, “the Crazy African Girl” Play)), Nick Malakhow (Straw Poll), Bella Poynton (The Appliance Department), Marco Antonio Rodriguez (Walk-In), Jasmine Sharma (PEACHY: a sorta chekhovian traumedy), Scott C. Sickles (The Battlements), Phillip Christian Smith (God Save The Queen), Caridad Svich (War Painting), Collin Van Son (Two-Man Rule), LaDarrion Williams (Secondhand Lessons), Sharifa Yazmeen (Fairy Dust).

Semi-finalists:  John P. Bray (Tracks (or, the People Who Live Here)), Lee Cataluna (Stuck in Honolulu), Jayne Deely (When Pluto was a planet), Pedro Eiras (A Subject of Interest), Dominic Finocchiaro (s(c)e(n)e[n]), Brynne Frauenhoffer (Disillusioned), Anamaria Guerzon (Blood/Sucker), Luis Herrera (When we become ghosts), Surrey Houlker (Rest, Stop.), MJ Kang (Ada & Mee), Evalena Lakin (TOP GIRL, or the cheerleader play), Matthew Libby (Pizza Bagels), Rachel Lynett (Do Trees Still Grow in Brooklyn?), Aziza Macklin (Riverside), Montserrat Mendez (Sombraluz O La Presencia), D.A. Mindell (Can’t Make an Omelette), Nicholas Pilapil (Luca & Uri), Sean Pomposello (Cash Kings), Andrew Rincón (Tempt Me), Marcus Scott (Vinyl Vanguard), Ariel Stess (Little Beings), Jesús I. Valles (LLERMO! or My Big Fat Mexican Apotheosis, with Sincerest Gratitude to Lorca), Laura Winters (The Starters), TJ Young (We Fly), Nathan Yungerberg (Evelyn Dreams of Horses).

Read about the 2026 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 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 | world premiere Contemporary American Theater, WV, 2026
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