Katie is shortlisted for Susan Smith Blackburn Prize

Charleville playwright Katie Holly has been announced as one of ten finalists for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the oldest and largest international prize awarded to women playwrights. The ten finalists have been chosen from over 190 plays nominated from around the world. The winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize will be announced in New York City on March 27th, and will receive a cash prize of $25,000 and a limited edition signed print by renowned artist Willem de Kooning. Each of the additional finalists will receive an award of $5,000.
Katie Holly’s first three plays, ‘Marion’ (2016), ‘Sharon’ (2017) and ‘Crowman’ (2018) premiered at Cork Midsummer Festival and toured regionally and nationally. ‘Sharon’ was recorded as a radio play on RTÉ Radio 1 and won a New York Festival Silver Award for ‘Best Digital Drama’ in 2019. She was commissioned by Cork County Council to write and produce ‘Crossword’ (Bealtaine Festival 2019) and ‘Pageant’ (Cork Culture Night 2020). In 2021 Katie participated in the Irish Theatre Institute’s artist programme ‘Six in the Attic’. Also in 2021, she received a Theatre Bursary for the development of her practice and began writing ‘Her Hand on the Trellis’. Katie is a participant in the Maven’s Playwright Programme, a professional development programme providing career support for female-identifying writers. She is currently completing a residency at the Everyman Theatre, Cork under the mentorship of Enda Walsh and as part of this residency is writing a new comedy called ‘Blindspot’. She is a graduate of Drama and Theatre Studies in University College Cork, where she subsequently completed a Masters in Irish Literature.