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Program in Creative Writing
Department of English
UW-Madison
6195 H.C.White Hall
600 North Park Street
Madison, WI 53706
(608) 263-3374
Last Updated:
September 17, 2009

Our 2010 Djerassi Distinguished Playwright will be Len Jenkin. Len is is a novelist, playwright, director, and screenwriter.

His novels include N Judah, New Jerusalem, and The Secret Life of Billy's Uncle Myron (with Emily Jenkins).

His plays include Dark Ride, Pilgrims of the Night, Careless Love, My Uncle Sam, Limbo Tales, The Dream Express, and Like I Say. His works for the stage have been produced throughout the United States, as well as in England, Germany, France, Denmark, and Japan.

His films include Blame It On the Night, Welcome to Oblivion, and American Notes.

Len's many honors and awards include three OBIE awards for Directing and Playwriting, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Rockefeller Foundation Award, a nomination for an EMMY Award, and four National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships.

Len Jenkin holds a PhD in American Literature from Columbia University. He’s a Professor in the Dramatic Writing Department, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, and lives in New York City.

 

Playwriting fellowship: the djerassi fellowship

The Carl Djerassi Distinguished Fellowship in Playwriting at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing was established by scientist and author Carl Djerassi to encourage playwrights whose work is not only performed, but also has intrinsic literary value. To realize Dr. Djerassi's vision, the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Creative Writing Program and Department of Theatre and Drama have joined forces to invite playwrights to work and teach in a community where plays are read and discussed as works on the page as well as works on the stage.

The Carl Djerassi Distinguished Fellowship in Playwriting provides a stipend of $45,000 for a playwright in residence at UW Madison during the spring semester (approximately January 15-May 25). The playwright additionally receives health benefits and office space in the suite where the Creative Writing faculty and the other fellows of the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing are housed.

During the residency, the fellow teaches one course in playwriting with no more than twelve students. The fellow also has ample time to work on his or her own writing and has the benefit of being a member of the writing and theater communities provided by the Institute, the Creative Writing Program, and the Department of Theatre and Drama.

Distinguished Fellows must make Madison their primary residence during the fellowship semester. Playwrights who have had work published as well as performed are of special interest.

To apply for the residency, after a call for submissions is posted on this page, playwrights are asked to send a letter of application, a course syllabus, a single writing sample (ie, one published play or one manuscript), and a resume that includes the names and contact information for three references. For optimum consideration this material should arrive at the following address by the date specificed in the call for submissions: Djerassi Distinguished Fellowship in Playwriting, Attn: Lori Studnicka, Department of English, The University of Wisconsin, 7187c Helen C. White Hall, 600 N. Park Street, Madison, WI 53706.

The Distinguished Fellows to date have been Dan O'Brien (2008) and Michael Weller (2009). The 2010 Distinguished Fellow is Len Jenkin.

Contact Information

Please note that the information within the Frequently Asked Questions regarding the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing DOES NOT apply to this fellowship. If you have any questions about the fellowship, please contact the Institute's Director at institutemail@english.wisc.edu