Williams will receive the David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize for his play Blood/Money. He will receive $2,500, and inclusion in MTC's Nu Werkz staged reading series during the 08-09 season. Dohrn will receive the Sky Cooper New American Play Prize for his play Magic Forest Farm, which includes a $10,000 award in addition to a world premiere of his play next season in MTC's Lieberman Theatre. Magic Forest Farm will also receive a reading in MTC's Nu Werkz Series.

Dohrn currently teaches writing at Columbia University in New York. He won the IRNE Award for Best New Play, The Rita and Burton Goldberg Prize in Playwriting, and his plays have been produced at Classic Stage Company (NYC Fringe), Boston Playwrights Theatre, and developed at The Flea, Studio 42, and many others. Williams holds a certification in acting from Delta College in Stockton and a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Santa Clara University, and he has trained with playwrights Brain Thorstenson, Carlos Manuel, and screenwriter Ron Hansen.