Chloë Moss Wins Susan Smith Blackburn Prize '09

British playwright Chloë Moss was awarded the 2009 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for This Wide Night, which premiered at London's Soho Theatre. The award is given annually to a new English-language play by a female playwright. Moss received $20,000 and a signed/numbered print by artist Willem de Kooning. Other 2009 finalists were: Free Outgoing, by Anupama Chandrasekhar (India); What Once We Felt, by Ann Marie Healy (U.S.); Inana, by Michele Lowe (U.S.); Oliver!, by Elizabeth Meriwether (U.S.); Ruined, by Lynn Nottage (U.S.); The Almond and the Seahorse, by Kaite O’Reilly (Wales); On the Rocks, by Amy Rosenthal (England); and Ten Tiny Toes, by Esther Wilson (England). Each received $1,000. Created to encourage women playwrights, the Blackburn Prize reflects the values of Houston-born actress and writer Susan Smith Blackburn.