New York, NY – The Dramatists Guild Foundation has announced Anu Yadav*, Christine Toy Johnson*, Darrel Alejandro Holnes*, Erlina Ortiz*, Ife Olujobi*, Matthew Paul Olmos*, Melissa Li* and Kit Yan*, Noa Gardner, Roger Q. Mason*, and Zachariah Ezer* as the recipients of the Catalyst Fellowship. The new program, created by Dramatists Guild Vice President and DGF board member Branden Jacobs-Jenkins* and playwright Nick Kaidoo, was developed to support dramatists who identify as the global ethnic majority and who are interested in using their platform to incite political and social change in their communities.

Through the fellowship, the DGF will support ten dramatists with a financial award of $30,000 each year for two years, totaling $60,000 for each fellow. With this financial support, we hope that each fellow can continue to address key issues around disrupting marginalization, inequity, and disenfranchisement—and boldly create and pilot courageous ideas that transform theatre. These funds cannot be used toward productions or play development.

“This fellowship was inspired by the amazing, widespread acts of care and activism I felt I was witnessing in this industry during the early days of the pandemic, and I noticed that a great majority of it was being spearheaded by early-career playwrights,” Jacobs-Jenkins says in a statement. “It occurred to me that there needed to be a way to identify and support those dramatists who felt that there was more to their calling than simply artistic production. This inaugural class are artists and emerging leaders who are interested in building systemic solutions to systemic problems—in this field and beyond. I hope this sparks and inspires others to finally recognize dramatists as genuine architects of the industry and essential in their thought leadership.”

The Catalyst Fellowship is made possible with support from C. Graham Berwind, III. 

For more information, visit DGF.org.