Submissions for Arizona Theatre Company’s National Latine Playwrights Award Are Open Now

Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) announces a call for submissions for the 2026 National Latine Playwrights Award. Now in the 29th year of the award, submissions will be accepted through January 18.

To be eligible, Latine playwrights must live in the United States, its territories, or Mexico. Scripts may be in English, or English and Spanish. The winner of the National Latine Playwrights Award will receive $2,500. Full-length and longer one-act plays with a minimum of 50 pages on any subject will be accepted. The winner will be notified by Spring 2026

Application requirements include:

• Submissions of a single script can be sent via email to NLPA@atc.org.

• Include a short cover letter of no more than one page describing the play’s developmental history, eligibility, and how the play fits into the playwright’s broader career trajectory.

This year, ATC celebrated 2025 NLPA recipient Edwin Sánchez for his play Lottery Boy, which received a workshop, showcasing many top local Latine artists at ATC’s new Metropolitan Phoenix home at Tempe Center for the Arts.

“The National Latine Playwrights Award has put Latine playwrights on the map for close to thirty years. While we acknowledge both emerging and established playwrights, ATC holds true to its mission to uphold Latine writers writing on any subject. It’s service we do with joy to call attention to the huge swath of writing talent that Latine playwrights bring to our national and international stages. Over the years, our winners have become a veritable who’s-who of Latine playwriting,” says ATC’s Playwright-in-Residence and National Latine Playwrights Award & Festival Director, Elaine Romero.

Recent recipients of ATC’s National Latine Playwrights Award include notable past winners such as Kristoffer Diaz, Caridad Svich, Carlos Murillo, Octavio Solis, Karen Zacarías, Edmund Sánchez, Luis Alfaro, Felix Pire, Luis Santeiro and Charise Castro Smith, co-writer of Encanto.

Established in 1995, the National Latine Playwrights Award is unique in both its longevity and prescience. Of the past 30 recipients, 27 have gone on to be produced across the U.S. and globally and continue to be recognized by awards from the Tonys, Golden Globes, Pulitzer, and The National Endowment for the Arts, among many others.

 

“ATC’s history of recognizing Latine voices through a formal award remains unmatched by any other regional theatre. So many of the playwrights who have won this award are playwrights I’ve spent a career admiring,” says Matt August, Kasser Family Artistic Director. “The recognition of the National Latine Playwrights Award continues to push our winners through the finish line to production at theatres across the country. It’s our joy to stand behind these plays and to call attention to their imagination and mastery.”

For more information, please visit ATC.org.