Write It Out! Announces $10K Prize for a Playwright Living With HIV

While federally funded HIV/AIDS programs are threatened, Write It Out! (WIO!) is offering $10,000 to a playwright living with HIV.

Playwright Donja R. Love (soft, one in two), WIO! founder and executive director, announced that applications are now open for the Write It Out! Prize and Program. Now in its sixth year, the program is a 10-week free virtual playwriting workshop for people living with HIV and AIDS, led by Love.

After the workshop, the 2025 cohort will collaborate with professional directors and actors to present their short plays on World AIDS Day, December 1. A stipend and a trip to NYC, which includes attending Broadway shows, are provided.

In addition to the annual 10-week program, Love launched the Write It Out! Prize in 2021, funded by Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor Billy Porter. The annual prize, given to a playwright living with HIV, now includes a $10,000 unrestricted cash prize and a dramaturg to assist the recipient in developing a new play. The inaugural recipient of the prize was Dominic Colón for his play The War I Know.

Click here for the 2025 application for Write It Out! (the program and prize) and for more information. Applications are open through Wednesday, July 30. Write It Out! prioritizes the confidentiality of all applicants and participants and individuals accepted into the program or chosen for the prize may opt to withhold their identity from publication.