In the last years, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has also included queer people. The prize is named after Susan Smith Blackburn (1935-1977), a prematurely deceased American playwright, actress and journalist, who believed that society needed more talented women and actively promoted this view her whole life.
Past winners of this award are for example Caryl Churchill, Lynn Notage, Tena Štivičić, Lucy Kirkwood and many more. This year’s winner will be announced at the end of February 2026.
The nominees are:
- Barbara Bergin: Dublin Gothic
- Hannah Doran: Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights
- Amy Jephta: A Good House
- Frances Poet: Small Acts of Love
- Ro Reddick: Cold War Choir Practice
- Jasmine Sharma: Pigeonhole
- Jen Silverman: Regressions
- DeLanna Studi: „I“ is for Invisible
- Else Went: Initiative
- Bess Wohl: Liberation