Inda Craig-Galván To Receive Kesselring Prize For Playwriting

The National Arts Club has selected Inda Craig-Galván for the 2019 Kesselring Prize for playwriting, for her tragicomic play Black Super Hero Magic Mama about a mother who magically turns into a super hero while mourning the shooting death of her unarmed teenage son by police. Craig-Galván officially receives the award, which includes $25,000 from the Club's Kesselring Fund and a residency at the historic clubhouse, during a special ceremony and reception on Monday, November 4 at 7:00PM. The evening features a staged reading of her work, directed by Michael Parva of The Directors Company, and is free and open to the public. Guests should RSVP via Eventbrite.

Craig-Galván's plays include I Go Somewhere Else, A Hit Dog Will Holler, and Welcome to Matteson! and have been developed and/or produced at The Geffen Playhouse, Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Old Globe, Playwrights' Arena, San Francisco Playhouse and Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. In addition to the Kesselring Prize, her honors include Kilroys List, Steppenwolf's The Mix, Kennedy Center Rosa Parks Playwriting Award, Blue Ink Award, Humanitas Prize Play LA and Princess Grace Award (runner up). She has written for the acclaimed TV series How to Get Away with Murder and The Rookie.

Founded in 1898, The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a mission to stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate the American people in the fine arts. Annually, the Club offers more than 150 free programs to the public, including exhibitions, theatrical and musical performances, lectures and readings, attracting an audience of over 25,000 members and guests. Feature programs focus on all disciplines of the arts. For a full list of events or to learn more, please visit nationalartsclub.org.

The Kesselring Prize was established in 1980 by Charlotte Kesselring - widow of noted playwright and Club member Joseph Kesselring - to honor and support as yet not nationally recognized playwrights with an honorarium and indirect support towards development of their work. Among its past recipients are Lucas Hnath, Tony Kushner, Nicky Silver and Anna Deavere Smith. The 2019 Kesselring Prize Jury included Stephen Adly Guirgis, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Between Riverside and Crazy; Anne Cattaneo, Lincoln Center Theater dramaturg, and the renowned playwright John Guare.