The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival comes of age in 2021, celebrating its eighteenth birthday. However, while Covid restrictions means it won’t be able to go ahead this year, the festival is still showing its support for Irish LGBTQ+ writers.

A newly announced series of bursaries funded by generous donors and the Arts Council of Ireland will help writers get started on works which could possibly appear in the 2022 festival. So what supports are on offer?

The Amy Dalton and Gerry Sinnott (LGBT Ally) Bursaries: These two awards are for new LGBTQ+ themed one or two act plays. Each bursary is to the value of €500, which organisers hope will assist writers to present their plays in the festival in 2022.

 The Terrence McNally Bursary: This award with a value of €500 is for a new short play of a duration of no more than 30 minutes. 

The Dublin LGBTQ Pride 2021 Bursary: This award celebrates identity and may be awarded to more than one writer (with up to a total fund of €1000) plus a place in the 2022 programme.

For those interested in submitting, here’s what the team are looking for:

.They accept plays with either an LGBTQ+ theme, character or relevance.
.The plays should be original works and recently written.
.Following the publication of The Plays Inside – their anthology of new plays last year, they intend to publish the successful works in a new anthology marking their 18th anniversary. You retain the copywright to your work.
.Plays should be written either by Irish artists, any artist who is resident or working on the Island of Ireland, and/or those who have an Irish passport, but are resident abroad.
.By submitting your play, you agree to the Festival publishing your play if you are awarded a bursary.

All you need to do to qualify for consideration is to email a written script to [email protected].

For more information, check out the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival website here.