Bernard and Shirley Handel Playwright Fellowship

The Bernard and Shirley Handel Playwright Fellowship, established in 2007, encourages the creative development of playwrights by enabling them to set aside time to pursue their work in an unstructured atmosphere at the Byrdcliffe Art Colony in Woodstock, NY. The Fellowship annually provides a $1,000 stipend that includes tuition to the Summer Byrdcliffe Artist In Resident Program at the Villetta Inn.

Guidelines

• Who Can Apply: Playwrights, emerging, mid-career and established, will be considered; U.S. citizens only may apply. Applicants must be at least twenty-one years of age.
   
• Tenure: the Handel Playwright Fellow will be one session of four consecutive weeks to be chosen in conjunction with the candidate. The summer sessions usually run from approximately June through mid-September.
   
• Criteria for Selection: Applicants will be judged on the quality of the plays presented. As well, the originality will be considered. Weight will also be given to the applicant's potential for working within a community of artists. Applicants are required to fill in the AIR Application and indicate they wish to be considered for the Handel Playwright Fellowship.
   
• Application Requirements for Handel Playwright Fellowship in addition to AIR Application:
  
  
  • Applicants should submit their most recent work, work created and completed within the three years prior to the date of application. Each playwright may submit one play of any length. Send a total of three (3) scripts, collated, paginated, and bound only with binder clips or brads.
  • One (1) copy should have the author's name and contact information on the title page.
  • The other two (2) copies should include an anonymous title page with the title of the work, but without any marking that might identify the author of the play. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit double-sided copies of scripts.

Review Procedure

• All Handel Playwright Fellow applicants will be reviewed by a special panel, chosen for their involvement or expertise in the theatre discipline. The panel recommendation is based solely on the quality of the work as distinguished through the supporting documents/material, rather than through (non-arts related) criteria.
   
• The panel reserves the right to recommend no Fellow if they believe that no applicant that year displays sufficient quality to warrant receiving a Fellowship grant.

Handel Playwright Fellowship recipients will be ineligible to apply for two deadlines following receipt of this award (example, if you apply on March 03, 2008 and receive this award, you may not apply again for this award until March 03, 2011.)

Writers: Please indicate on the application form whether or not you'd like to be considered for the Handel Playwright Fellowship.