The Ryan Hudak LGBTQ+ Dramatic Writing Award
Forecasted
The Ryan Hudak LGBTQ+ Dramatic Writing Award supports LGBTQ+ playwrights and screenwriters in New York State with funding to sustain their artistic vision, creative practice, and career progression.
Funder: New York Foundation for The Arts
Due Dates (Anticipated): June 2027 (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: $8,000 cash grant to one recipient
Summary: Supports the artistic vision, creative practice, and career progression of an LGBTQ+ playwright or screenwriter in New York State.
Key Information: Applicants must be at least 25 and full-time New York State residents for at least 12 months.
Description
Administered by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), this annual award recognizes an LGBTQ+ playwright or screenwriter’s artistic vision across their dramatic writing rather than funding a proposed project. It supports artistic practice and career progression, with attention to originality, creativity, writing quality, depth of themes, and innovation in storytelling. Accepted forms include stageplays, screenplays, teleplays, libretti, radioplays, audiodramas, puppet plays, and experimental web series.
The award honors Ryan Hudak, a gay playwright, theater maker, filmmaker, and NYFA staff member who served on its executive and development teams. He died in May 2022 at age 32 after a long battle with leukemia. Funding comes from his parents, Pat and Tom Hudak, individual donors, and the philanthropic community.
