<div dir="ltr"><span class="" style="color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,'Nimbus Sans L',sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:16px"><p align="right" style="margin-top:1em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:0px">
<strong>PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Distribution</strong></p><p align="right" style="margin-top:1em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:0px">                        June 17, 2013</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:0px">
 </p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:0px"><strong>Playwrights Guild of Canada announces increase to the Carol Bolt Award for Playwrights</strong></p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:0px">
(TORONTO, ON)</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:0px">Effective immediately, Playwrights Guild of Canada (PGC) will be increasing its annual Carol Bolt prize from $3,000 to $5,000. The board made the decision after announcing an unprecedented cumulative surplus at the end of this fiscal year, reflecting years of financial recovery efforts and putting the organization in a strong financial position going into the next year. The increase will come from a re-allocation of the Access Copyright’s Repertoire payment, supplementing support that the award currently receives from Playwrights Canada Press and the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT).</p>
<p style="margin-top:1em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:0px">The Carol Bolt Award for Playwrights is given annually to a member of PGC who has premiered an original play within the past year. A juried panel, presided over by playwright Mary Vingoe as jury chair, selects the winner. In addition to the prize money, the winner also receives the opportunity to be published by Playwrights Canada Press. A shortlist of the best three entries will be announced in September 2013. The winner will be announced during the Tom Hendry Awards on October 28, 2013. This year’s competition attracted a record number of submissions.</p>
<p style="margin-top:1em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:0px">Past award recipients have been: <strong>Florence Gibson MacDonald, Mieko Ouchi, John Mighton, Stephen Massicotte, Colleen Murphy, Vern Thiessen, Michael Nathanson, Anusree Roy,</strong> and most recently<strong>Don Hannah. </strong></p>
<p align="center" style="margin-top:1em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:0px">-30-</p><p align="center" style="margin-top:1em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:0px"><strong><em>Playwrights Guild of Canada</em></strong><em>is a registered national arts service association mandated to advance the creative rights and interests of professional Canadian playwrights, promote Canadian plays nationally and internationally, and foster an active, evolving community of writers for the stage.</em></p>
<div><em><br></em></div></span><div><br></div>-- <br>Sarah Malik<br>Communications Coordinator<br>Playwrights Guild of Canada<br>E: <a href="mailto:communications@playwrightsguild.ca" target="_blank">communications@playwrightsguild.ca</a><br>
T: 416-703-0201     F: 416-703-0059<br><br>SIGN UP FOR PGC’S FREE ONLINE COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER<br><a href="http://eepurl.com/gIxP" target="_blank">http://eepurl.com/gIxP</a><br><br>Join our Facebook page <a href="http://facebook.com/playwrightsguildofcanada" target="_blank">facebook.com/playwrightsguildofcanada</a><br>
<br>Sign up for "Theatre of Disapproval" conference. <br>Program information: <a href="http://www.playwrightsguild.ca/events" target="_blank">http://www.playwrightsguild.ca/events</a><br>Registration: <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PGCconfAGM" target="_blank">https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PGCconfAGM</a>
</div>