Sitting on an arts jury is humbling, demanding, and almost always thankless. But this year’s Siminovitch Prize for playwriting was the most agonising and exhilarating jury I've ever been a part of.
Agonising because we were presented with a large number of unique and exceptional writers, each of whom is eminently worthy of recognition and encouragement. And because, since I am a mid-career artist myself, with ties to multiple communities… many of this year’s candidates are my friends.
Exhilarating for the exact same reasons. With all the current challenges to our art form and in the world, here is a whole generation of extraordinary storytellers at the top of their creative powers who continue to pour their sweat and their genius into the theatre. Each candidate had multiple champions who cared enough to write fervent support letters; assemble well over a hundred pages of documentation; build a case for why a particular individual and their work should be lifted up to the nation. And many of them are my friends.
On the heels of my encounters with aspiring and emerging playwrights while teaching last year at UBC, this cross-country relief map of brilliance has left me further heartened and inspired.
Our jury combed through the applications; we pored over the criteria; then we talked passionately for days. It was painful. It was electric. Someone had to do it. While there will inevitably be disappointment as well as elation as the names are announced, the artists on that jury demonstrated great integrity and, I think, took this on as an act of love for this community. I am extremely proud of our list: I am deeply in awe of many writers who are not on it, too. I so appreciate the Siminovitch Foundation's monumental generosity to our community as a whole, and also the chance to shine a light on just a few of the indelible voices across this occupied land. If I could send one message to all of the remarkable artists who were in contention this year, it would be this: "We see you. You matter. Keep going."
https://siminovitchprize.com/jury/