The seed of the group was planted in 1989 at the close of a seminar at Arena Stage that focused on the African American woman playwright. Panel member Karen Evans used her concluding remarks to talk about the loneliness of being Black and female in this profession and asked for the names and addresses of women in the audience who were playwrights. She held a meeting at her home the following month and became president and founder of BWPG. Since then, we have met regularly on a monthly basis, to provide professional support to our members. In 1993 we incorporated, in 1998 we held our first retreat, and in 1999 we received 501(c)3 status.
Staff Members
Karen L.B. Evans is President and Founder of the Black Women Playwrights’ Group. She has received Individual Fellowships in Playwriting from both the National Endowment for the Arts and the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities. She was a Helen Hayes nominee for “Outstanding New Play” as well as a Sundance Institute finalist. Ms. Evans participated in the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights’ Conference. Ms. Evans is also a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Center “Front & Center Award,” and has received the “Citation for Excellence in Design and Writing” from the Washington Education Press Association.
Her work has been published and presented by Meriwether Publishing, Applause Theater Books, The Discovery Channel Magazine, American Showcase Theatre and PBS. Ms. Evans’ current project is a musical adaptation of her book, You Must Remember This, a novel for the middle school reader, published by Hyperion Books for Children. She is also a recipient of a fellowship from the Weissberg Foundation to attend a playwriting seminar at New York’s Primary Stages.
She holds a BA with honors in Drama from Dartmouth College and an MFA in playwriting from The Catholic University of America.
Makeda Abraham/ Intern- mabraham@blackwomenplaywrights.org
Mitra Arthur/ Development & Admin Asst- marthur@blackwomenplaywrights.org