Leah Ryan’s Fund for Emerging Women Writers has announced Genne Murphy as the winner of the seventh annual prize for her play “Giantess.”
Ryan was a playwright, essayist, writer of post-modern greeting cards, and “a general woman of letters.” She died of leukemia at the age of 44 in 2008.
Murphy’s play was chosen out of 450 entries. It tells the story of Dee, “who discovers a lost girl her own age with amnesia — who happens to be 30 feet tall. The play is moving, funny, and always surprising, as they travel through space and time and deepen their connection to one another.”
Murphy’s play “stood out to our reading committee for expressing a singular and truly theatrical voice,” the organization said through their announcement release.
Murphy is a playwright and arts educator, born and raised in Philadelphia. Her plays include “Giantess,” “Hope Street and Other Lonely Places,” “Outside the Wire,” “Sea Witch,” and “Washing.” She is currently pursuing her MFA in Playwriting at Yale School of Drama.
Leah Ryan’s Fund will be workshopping the play over the summer with a few closed-door readings at Primary Stages and New York Stage and Film before presenting a full public reading of “Giantess” in the fall.
The organization also expressed congratulations to the runners-up for this year: Jacqueline Goldfinger’s “The Arsonists,” and Dipika Guha’s “The Art of Gaman.”
