Over at the spiffy new Clyde Fitch Report, Leonard Jacobs posts the announcement of the 2009 ATCA Osborn New Play Award for and Emerging Playwright. This years winner is Yussef El-Gundi for Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat. While I wasn't a huge fan of the Silk Road production--it is a really good script. So congrats to Yussef El-Gundi!

Then something at the bottom of the ATCA's press release caught my eye.

"Prior Osborn Award Recipients
2008 Gee’s Bend, EM Lewis, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Montgomery, AL" 

EM Lewis won the ‘08 Primus award for Heads. Which, incidentally, we are producing as part of the Alcyone Festival 09.) Gees Bend was by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder.

A mistake in their press release?  If the ATCA has mistakes in a press release, us little people probably shouldn't feel so bad if we have typos from time to time, right? (Do I get one credit for slack from our fine critics if need/a typo arises?)

Speaking of winners EM Lewis took home LA Weekly's award for production of the year this week for Song of Extinction.

El-Gundi (Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat)  and Lewis (Song of Extinction) are also both finalists for the 2009 Steinberg/ATCA Award for Best New Play--replete with a $25,000 prize--along with Lee Blessing (Great Falls), Steven Dietz (Becky’s New Car), Octavio Solis (Lydia) and Tracy Letts (for that "minor play" Superior Donuts.) Winners will be announced this Saturday April 4th.