Application information for the Barbara Clark Playwriting Competition
The winning playwright of the 2009 One-Act Play Contest will receive a $200 cash prize and have his/her play performed as a staged reading before the end of the 2008 academic year.  The runner up will receive $100 and the third place playwright will receive $50.
Dates
The deadline for submissions is April 3rd, 2009 at 5:00 p.m.  Entries submitted after this date will not be considered.  The winners will be announced no later than April 30th, 2009.
Contest Eligibility and Guidelines
Playwright must be a registered student at Grinnell College at the time of the submission. The contest is open to all Grinnell College students. Plays should be no more than thirty double-spaced pages in length and not previously produced.
Procedures
*Please send two copies of the manuscript:
	One affixed to the text with the title of the play only on the title page and a separate one with the title and the playwright’s name on the title page.
*Plays must be typed.
*Deposit the manuscript in the appropriate bin in the Bucksbaum Office (room 162).
Please Note
* A special guest and the faculty of the Department of Theatre & Dance will evaluate plays.
*Please make sure to keep a copy of your entry for future use. We regret that we are unable to return manuscripts.
* Entries are judged anonymously.

How did Grinnell College get the McClenon Clark Playwriting Award?

Barbara McClenon Clark, class of 1942, made a gift in 2001 to establish the McClenon Clark Playwriting Award. Barbara came to Grinnell at age 16 from Maryland following in her father’s footsteps. Walter McClenon graduated with the class of 1907. His brother, Raymond McClenon, was professor of mathematics from 1905 until retirement in 1953. Unfortunately, finances kept Barbara from returning for her second year, so she enrolled at the Washington School for Secretaries for one year. Her uncle, Raymond, owed the family money so, in payment, Raymond paid the tuition, room, and board for Barbara to return to Grinnell for her final two years.

While a student, Barbara participated in drama, the Scarlet & Black, and the literary magazine, Tanager. Barbara received the Sheldon Whitcomb Prize for Poetry in 1941 and the Henry York Steiner Prize for Fiction in 1942.

Upon graduating from Grinnell College with a major in English, Barbara’s first job was stenography for the British Supply Mission in Washington, D.C. She married Jack Clark the same year (later divorced) and raised a family of five children – John, Joan, Robert, Bill, and Kathy. She also began a career as a copy editor for U.S. News & World Report and Builder Magazine. She retired in 1984 and moved to Cape Canaveral, Fla., where she still resides.

Barbara has been active in theatre as a writer, producer, and performer. She is a member of the Space Coast Playwrights’ Workshop, which has produced several of her works. Barbara has won awards from the Space Coast Writer’s Guild and conducts a play reading group at her local Cocoa Beach, Fla., library. She has also published two books entitled The Diary of a Political Candidate and her most recent Dear Hermit, a collection of letters between Barbara and one of her many pen pals.

Information provided by Sandy Durbala, Office of Alumni Relations & Development, May 9, 2005

Recent Awards
2007: Dale Mackey '07
2006: Alfred by Hannah Sayle
2005: Dale Mackey '07
2004: Dale Mackey '07