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Congratulations to the
2023 winner of The Leah
Culture Shock
by Gloria Majule
Two African students, Zahra from Tanzania and Hawi from Kenya, start school at an Ivy League institutions. They are placed in Salama House,
an all-black down and affinity space for black students. Faced with culture, academic, and economic challenged, Zahra and Hawi try to make it through freshman year, while facing the reality of what it means to black in America.
The play will have a pubic reading as part of Vassar College’s Powerhouse Theater Season on their campus in Poughkeepsie, NY on July 1st.
The reading will be directed by Shariffa Ali.
Honorable Mentions
AN CHOI: eat, play, rage, (A don’t fuck with the weekend shift play)
by Carolina Đỗ
Beautiful Blessed Child
by Daria Miyeko Marinelli
Our Mission
The Leah Ryan Fund helps sustain and support writers facing individual challenges and systemic oppression so they can keep writing, connecting, creating, and thriving. The Fund currently offers an annual playwriting prize (The Leah) and an annual award for writers facing a serious illness (The Vladimir).
The Leah Ryan Fund was established in 2008 to honor the memory of Leah Ryan, a woman of letters who wrote plays, poetry, essays, lyrics, adaptations, and collaborated with performance artists.