The Boston College Arts Council to Present 2022 Alumni Arts Award for Distinguished Achievement to Jeff Augustin

The Boston College Arts Council will present its 2022 Alumni Arts Award for Distinguished Achievement to Jeff Augustin, Class of 2008, an acclaimed and award-winning playwright and screenwriter whose plays have been performed at high-profile festivals and venues across the country. He will be on campus as the special alumni guest during the University's 24th annual Arts Festival, April 28-30, 2022, and participate in festival programming.

"This year's alumni award recipient, Jeff Augustin, is a Haitian-American writing about how people heal, cope, and shape our own narratives. He is taking a short break from his movie in production in the Dominican Republic to participate in our festival," said BC Arts Council Chair and Associate Professor of Theatre Crystal Tiala.

The alumni arts award is one of the highest honors bestowed by the Boston College Arts Council. It recognizes graduates who have demonstrated creativity, innovation, leadership, and vision through their contributions to the arts.

Augustin-who entered BC as a political science and economics major-switched his major after taking an introductory theater course and earned a bachelor's degree in Theatre, followed by an MFA from University of California, Diego.

At BC "I discovered the theater," he said in a 2015 BroadwayWorld interview. "I thought that acting was all there really was to theatre," until he took playwrighting with BC Professor of Theatre Scott T. Cummings. "A brilliant man, Scott's the one who really pushed me into writing." At the festival, Cummings will present his award, and have a public discussion with Augustin about his work.

Augustin's plays include Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (Humana Festival of New American Plays); The New Englanders (Manhattan Theatre Club); Little Children Dream of God (Roundabout Theatre Company); The Last Tiger in Haiti (La Jolla Playhouse and Berkeley Rep); and Cry Old Kingdom (Humana Festival).

He has co-authored That High Lonesome Sound and The Many Deaths of Nathan Stubblefield (Humana Festival). He translated Our Town into Haitian Creole for Miami New Drama's multilingual production. He was the Shank Playwright-in-Residence at Playwrights Horizons and the inaugural Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at Roundabout. He is an alumnus of the New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Fellowship; Rita Goldberg Playwright's Workshop at the Lark; and The Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm. He's had his plays developed at The Eugene O'Neill Playwright's Conference and The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep. Augustin has been awarded the Steinberg Playwriting Award, Rella Lossy Playwright Award; and the Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwright Award. He has been commissioned by the Humana Festival, Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club and La Jolla Playhouse.

Augustin's TV Credits include: Saint X (Hulu, Upcoming); The Morning Show (Apple TV +); The Good Lord Bird (Showtime); and Claws (TNT). He's been nominated for two Writer's Guild of America Awards. Jeff has current TV/Film projects in development with Fox Searchlight/Disney/Barry Jenkins; Netflix; and Element Pictures.

Past Arts Council alumni award recipients include actor Chris O'Donnell '92, singer/songwriter Ellis Paul '87, nature photographer James Balog '74, comedian Amy Poehler '93, filmmaker Tom McCarthy '88, novelist Chuck Hogan '89, executive producer Anne Garefino '81, visual artist Chris Doyle '81, Broadway Producer Nick Scandalios '87, producer, actor and writer Tracy Wigfield '05, museum director and art historian Dr. Natalia Majluf '88, and poet, writer, physician, editor and educator C. Dale Young '91, and Grammy and Tony award winning music and theater producer Sean Flahaven '95.

Learn more at www.bostoncollegeartsfestival.com.