Click here to apply for the 2023-2025 Emerging Writers Group! We are conducting our entire application process via SlideRoom. After clicking the link, please create a SlideRoom account and follow the instructions from there. 

Please note: We WILL NOT accept applications via email or post. If you are having issues using SlideRoom, please email us at [email protected] 

Materials required for application are:

• A Professional Resume/CV
• One Full-Length Play or Musical

• “Full-length” is defined as being 50 pages or more in length or no shorter than 45-minutes in running time)
• If submitting a musical, we strongly prefer it is a musical of which you are the sole author. If you wish to submit a musical you wrote in collaboration, please note in your Artist Statement precisely what your role was in the musical’s creation (composer, lyricist, book-writer, etc)
• An Artist Statement
• In 500 words or fewer, please tell us a bit about yourself as an artist. This can be in the form of an artistic "mission statement," a short essay about one of your plays, a brief autobiography, or, really, whatever you’d like! Some other possible prompts: Describe a theatrical experience you had recently! Talk about an artistic collaboration experience! What's the hardest/most joyful/most mysterious thing to you about writing for the theater? 
• Two (2) Professional References

All generative artists (playwrights, composers, devisers, multi-hyphenates) are encouraged to apply! However, eligible applicants: 

• Cannot have an agent, manager or other professional representation for playwriting at the time of application 
• Cannot have had an Off-Broadway or major regional theater premiere of one of their shows (in a theater greater than 99 seats) 
• Cannot be actively enrolled in an academic training program (such as an undergraduate degree or graduate degree program) if accepted into EWG. If you have completed an undergraduate or graduate degree OR, if your degree will be complete by September 2023, you are eligible to apply.
• Must maintain residence no further than a 90-minute commute from The Public Theater in New York City, if accepted into the program.

Applications are open now! They will remain open until 11:59PM Eastern Time on Thursday, February 16, 2023.

If you have any questions at all, you can email [email protected] and a Public Theater staff member will reply within 48-hours. But before you do - see below for answers to some commonly asked questions.

When are you accepting applications for the next EWG cohort?
Applications are open now! They will remain open until 11:59pm Eastern Time on Thursday, February 16th, 2023.

I applied! When will I hear if I got in or not?
Thanks for applying! Applications will remain open until Thursday, February 16th, 2023. At that point, our team of readers will evaluate each application over the course of the spring and summer. You should expect to hear from us no later than August 31st, 2023.

How are EWG cohorts chosen?
During each application cycle, we typically receive anywhere from 400-700 applications. The New Work Development Department at The Public assembles a team of 50 (or so) readers to evaluate the applications. These readers are all theater industry professionals and include playwrights (including alumni of EWG), directors, dramaturgs, administrators, actors, producers and members of The Public’s artistic staff. 

Once that initial reader team identifies applications strong enough to move forward, the New Work Development team (Amrita Ramanan, Director of New Work Development; Sarah Lunnie, Senior Dramaturg; and Jack Phillips Moore, Associate Director of New Work Development) conducts a second round of evaluations. The finalists are chosen by New Work Development, in consultation with The Public Theater’s Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis, and we conduct interviews with those finalists before making a final decision on who will be in the group.

Can I submit a short play in my application?
Depends on your definition! Your application play must be over 50 pages in length or no shorter than 45 minutes in running time.

I don’t primarily identify as a “playwright” - am I eligible for EWG?
Absolutely! While a great many of EWG’s alumni consider themselves playwrights, we have also proudly accepted composers, poets, emcees, devisers, performers and multi-hyphenate artists who are looking to hone their talents as theater writers!

Can I submit a musical as my “application play”? 
You may! However, we strongly prefer that it is a musical of which you are the sole author. We MAY accept a musical that you have co-written, but please note in your Artist Statement precisely what you contributed to the show (as in, are you the composer, lyricist, book-writer, etc.)

Also, please note that we do not accept demo tracks as part of the application, so please upload the libretto only!

I have a college and/or advanced degree in playwriting or another form of theatrical writing. Am I eligible for EWG?
You are! As long as you are not actively enrolled in a degree program (college, grad school, PhD program) while in EWG, you are eligible!

Who has been in the Emerging Writers Group in the past?
The 2020-2023 Emerging Writers Group is Nissy Aya, Aya Aziz, Francisca Da Silveira, Katie Do, Ying Ying Li, Julián Mesri, AriDy Nox, UGBA and Else C. Went.

The alumni of the Emerging Writers Group are Brittany K. Allen, Augusto Amador, Bridget Kelso Anthony, Kevin Artigue, Liza Birkenmeir, Radha Blank, Manny Borras, Leila Buck, Oscar A.L. Cabrera, Raul Castillo, Damon Chua, Chris Cragin Day, Daniella De Jesús, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, Dyalekt, Keli Goff, Javierantonio González, Christina Gorman, Ryan J. Haddad, A-lan Holt, Phillip Howze, Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Geraldine Inoa, Elizabeth Irwin, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Obehi Janice, C. Julian Jimenez, Sukari Jones, Jeremy Jerome Kamps, MJ Kaufman, Boo Killebrew, Andrew Kramer, Paola Lázaro, Aaron Levy, Ethan Lipton, Patricia Ione Lloyd, Mona Mansour, Laura Marks, Anna Moench, Alejandro Morales, Dominique Morisseau, Nick Mwaluko, Mary Kathryn Nagle, NSangou Njikam, Don Nguyen, Diana Oh, Ife Olujobi, Stav Palti-Negev, Jiehae Park, Jerome Parker, Ricardo Pérez González, Stella Fawn Ragsdale, Vickie Ramirez, Harrison David Rivers, Riti Sachdeva, Akin Salawu, Sarah Sander, Jordan Seavey, SEVAN, Alena Smith, Kevin Christopher Snipes, Celine Song, Susan Soon He Stanton, Alaudin Ullah, Kyle Warren, Pia Wilson, Lauren Yee, Joshua Young, and David Zheng.