Not-for-Profit History Matters/Back to the Future Announces 2018 Judith Barlow Prize Winner

Not-for- profit History Matters/Back to the Future has announced the winner of their prestigious annual Judith Barlow Prize: Audrey Webb, who is currently pursuing a graduate degree at Texas State University. She will receive a $2,500 cash prize for her one-act play "The Only Hills We've Ever Had", based on Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun".

"The Only Hills We've Ever Had" tells the story of a desperate mother trying to urge her college-bound son out of their project housing before it's too late for him to escape. The play will have a reading on Monday, April 23rd at 7pm at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City.

A national coalition of theater professionals with an entirely unique mission, History

Matters/Back to the Future promotes the study and production of celebrated women playwrights of the past and their plays in colleges, universities, and theaters throughout the country and seeks responses to those plays by contemporary playwrights.

"History Matters/Back to the Future performs a vital service to both the academic and theatrical communities," says Founder Joan Vail Thorne. "We ensure that masterworks written by women playwrights of the past are routinely read and taught in colleges and universities and that the women who wrote them are held up as significant contributors to the art of playwriting. With the Judith Barlow Prize, our One Play at a Time Initiative, and our newly expanded digital resources, we provide ongoing inspiration and encouragement to students and instructors. We are thrilled to award Audrey Webb the prize for this year."

History Matters/Back to the Future's One Play At A Time: Historic Women

Playwrights Initiative challenges professors around the country to dedicate one class period each semester to a historic play by a woman playwright. Students enrolled in participating courses are eligible to create a one-act play inspired by the play taught in class and the annual Judith Barlow Prize is awarded to an exceptional play by one of these students. This year's panel of judges included César Alvarez,

Joan D. Firestone, Jacqueline Knapp, and Maria-Christina Oliveras.

The Annual Judith Barlow Prize is awarded to a student playwright for an exceptional one-act play inspired by the work of an historic female playwright. Annually, the first place student winner of the prize receives a $2,500 award and a reading of their work in New York City, with a $500 award to the participating professor. The second place student winner receives a $1,000 award. (Applications are accepted between May 1st and December 31st .)

The runner-up for this year's prize is Hannah Manikowski of Carnegie Mellon whose play "Compensation" was inspired by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz's "House of Desires". She will receive a prize of $1000 in recognition of her achievement.

The Judith Barlow Prize is named for Judith E. Barlow, Ph.D. and a Professor Emeritus of English and Women's Studies at the University of Albany, SUNY and editor of "Plays By American Women 1900-1930", "Plays By American Women 1930-1960", and "Women Writers of the Provincetown Playhouse". Barlow is also the author of "Final Acts: The Creation of Three Late O'Neill Plays", as well as numerous essays on American Drama.

For more information on History Matters/Back to the Future, the Judith Barlow Prize, or the play library, visit http://www.historymattersbacktothefuture.com. Teachers interested in joining the One Play at a Time Initiative should visit

http://www.historymattersbacktothefuture.com/programs/oneplayatatime.

Photo Courtesy of Audrey Webb