91Porn

Founded in Fall 2017 by alumnus and former Northeastern professor Jim Blair to create a platform for new playwrights at 91Porn, Nuevas Voces is a thrilling launch point for new work from Northeastern and its vibrant community Featuring multiple prize-winning short plays selected from an extensive competition, Nuevas Voces reveals the complexity of our human experience through the many lenses that make up Northeastern.

Jim Blair also teaches a playwriting workshop each spring through Northeastern's Office of Community & Professional Education.

9th Annual Playwriting Contest For the Fall 2025 Nuevas Voces Festival

We are proud to announce the winners of the 9th Annual Playwriting Contest!

• 1st Place, $250: HANDY DANDY by Kevin Simonds
• 2nd Place, $200: ROCK ON by Jess Molina
• 3rd Place, $150: GIVE ME A SIGN by Isabel Quintero

Performance Dates

• 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2; an opening reception begins at 6:30 p.m. and talkback session at the conclusion of the opening night.
• 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3
• 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Oct. 4

10th Annual Playwriting Contest For the Fall 2026 Nuevas Voces Festival

We're thrilled to celebrate ten seasons of Jim Blair's Playwriting Contest and Festival!

Deadline is May 1, 2026
Winners Announced: May 15, 2026

Entry Categories

• Current high school students in Illinois
• Current NEIU or other college students in Illinois, ages 17-28 (full- or part-time)
• NEIU and the greater community, age 29+. Must be an Illinois resident.

• A $15 sign-up fee will be required unless you are enrolled in Jim Blair's non-credit Playwriting Workshop, or enrolled in the Department of Communication, Media and Theatre's Playwriting course.

Submission Information

Submission Requirements

• Your submission will be accepted only through this.
• Your play submission must include a cover page.
• Your name can only appear on your cover page and nowhere else.
• Please use 12-point font and double-space between characters.
• Pages must be numbered.
• Only one submission per playwright.

Play Requirements

• The cast may not exceed five actors.
• Make sure you time your play so that it is 10 minutes or less. Longer plays cannot be considered for performance.
• Please include translations if any of your dialogue is in a language other than English.
• Your play will not be considered if it has already receive recognition through a professional premiere.

Originality

• The Nuevas Voces: A 10-Minute Playwriting Contest and Festival will consider only original work.
• Submitted plays that are based on any other published work, including but not limited to novels, short stories, films, teleplays, other theatrical scripts, etc., unless also written by the submitting author(s), are ineligible.
• Judges will make final production decisions based on the quality of the work and practicality of production, and such decisions shall be final. 

The 10th Annual Nuevas Voces Festival judges are:

• Sarah J. Fabian (she/they), M.F.A., CMT Department Associate Professor and Managing Director of Stage Center Theatre
• Adam Goldstein (he/him), M.F.A., CMT Department Assistant Professor and Artistic Director of Stage Center Theatre
• TBA

Past Contest Winners

Fall 2024 Winners

First Place: Tyris Manney, "The Human Goldfish"
Second Place: Kelly Bork, "It Is What It Is"
Third Place: Mercedes Edwards, "Inevitable"
Honorable Mention: Brenda Gilmore, "You Betcha Yippee!"
Honorable Mention: Nathan Baltudis, "Manning the Middle"
 

Fall 2023 Winners

First Place: Victor Braeseke, "Two People"
Second Place: Samuel Seo, "It's My Move"
Third Place: Luke Steadman, "The Interns"
Honorable Mention: David Lipschutz, "Tripping on Xanax at a Mumford & Sons Concert" 
Honorable Mention: Michael Gross, "The Palestine/Israeli Conflict" 
Honorable Mention: Anmol Gulati, "The Hated Ones"

Fall 2022 Winners

First Place: Nathan Baltudis, "Impasse"
Second Place: Gabriel Olvera-Cabral, "Three Friends"
Third Place: Melony Aponte, "Members Only"
Honorable Mentions: Ivory Banks, "Vaccination-Recover"; Wyn Thomas, "Beautiful Daughter"; and "Melanie Baker "Especially When I'm Driving"

Fall 2021 Winners

First Place: Alex Chicas, "Oh Snap!"
Second Place: Wyn Thomas, "Scared"
Third Place: Mara Galeno, "The Better Life"
Honorable Mentions: Brenda Gilmore, "Holiday Plans;" Mary Kroeck, "6 Feet;" Zaria McDonald, "The Right Decision"

Fall 2020 Winners

First Place: Sean Carey, "Departure, Initiation, Return. The Bus."
Second Place: Raeghan Draper, Under Par"
Third Place: Charles Sipps, "Chekov's Potato"
Honorable Mentions: Emily Maso & Raúl Dorantes, "El Tres Laredos;" Michael Maura, "Somethin' Somethin;" Ata Younan, "The United Statesian Nightmare"

Fall 2019 Winners

First Place: Shannon Naylor, "The Fear of the Little Things"
Second Place: Emily Feldman, "Live It Up List"
Third Place: Ariel Notterman, "Frosted" 
Honorable Mention: James Jarvis, "Too True to Be Good" 

Winter 2019 Winners

First Place: Diego Roman, "Enough"
Second Place: Ariel Notterman, "Meet Me in the Parking Lot"
Third Place: Becca Peterson, "A Private Hell"

First Place: Dan Wirth, "Full Life"
Second Place: Sidney Davis III, "Crisis of Independence"

Winter 2018 Winners

First Place: Dalton Brown, "Spring Cleaning"
Second Place: Becca Peterson, "Talking the Talk"
Third Place: Becca Peterson, "A Private Hell"

First Place: Felicia Madlock, "Anna's Assumptions"
Second Place: Dan Wirth, "Shed"
Honorable Mention: Mike Palatnik, "An Unusual Bar"