Playwright Tyler English-Beckwith has received Leah Ryan’s Fund For Emerging Women Writers for her play “Mingus.” A press release describes the work as a “smart, dynamic, and moving play, which really stood out among the 400+ submissions we read this year.”

“Mingus” follows B Coleman, a driven first-generation college student “who has revolutionary ideas but struggles with the confidence to put them forward.” When applying for a prestigious scholarship, she asks Harrison Jones, a professor, author, and former Black Party member, to write a recommendation. “Harrison takes her under his wing as a mentee and challenges B to see her own worth. Over conversations on theory, jazz, and family, they unlock something inside each other, and their relationship develops into an undefined, entangled web of blurred lines,” the release teases. “When Harrison makes a bold decision, will B finally find the strength to use her voice?”

“I am so honored to have been chosen to receive this year’s Leah Ryan FEWW prize,” English-Beckwith said. “‘Mingus’ is a play I have labored over for a long time, and for it to be recognized by such a distinguished committee lets me know that the work was not done in vain. I am so grateful to be a part of a lineage of fierce women writers.”

The org selected Amanda Keating’s “Teach/Teach” and Sophie Weisskoff’s “Enda and Oona” as honorable mentions.

Once it is safe to do so, Leah Ryan’s Fund For Emerging Women Writers will host a public reading of “Mingus” in New York City. The play is also getting a reading at the 2020 Bay Area Playwrights Festival in July.

English-Beckwith creates worlds “where black women live beyond the basic means of survival and have the audacity to be autonomous” in her work, per her bio. “Maya and Rivers,” “TWENTYEIGHT,” and “Turf” are among her other plays. She is the recipient of the 2018 Kennedy Center Paula Vogel Play Prize. She wrote, co-directed, and acted in “Umbra,” a series of films for the Meow Wolf arts collective.