To register for our One-Act Play Contest, you must complete the registration form and mail it in with your $25.00 entry fee check . You can get the registration form two ways:

1) Click here to open and print the registration form in your browser (note: you cannot complete this form online; you must print it and return the completed paper form with your check.

2) Click here to download the the registration form in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. This requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader version 3.0 or above. You can download the Acrobat Reader here

Entries are accepted from July 15th through November 1st yearly. Entries postmarked later than November 1st will not be considered.

Each year, the playwright who wins the One-Act Play Contest receives a $1000 cash prize and a staged reading at the upcoming Festival. Then the winning play is staged as a full production during the Festival after that. (For example, if a playwright submits during our reading period from July to November of the year 3000, he or she is submitting to win the 3001 One-Act Play Contest. The winning play will receive a staged reading during the 3001 Festival and a full production during the 3002 Festival.) Additionally, the winner receives an All Access Pass to the Festival (valued at $500 per year) during both years that their play is involved. This provides admittance to EVERY event during Festival weekend, including private parties and VIP events, and is an invaluable opportunity to "mingle with the literati."

Winning plays are also published in the University of New Orleans' literary magazine Bayou. Please be aware that publication in Bayou requires that a play appear in standardized play format. If you have submitted a play to the Festival that is not in this format, don’t worry. You are in no way disqualified. However, you should be aware that if you win and you want your one-act play published in Bayou, you will have to reformat your little darling yourself. If you are unclear on what standard play format means, please refer to this quick and easy style guide.

The finalists' names and titles of their plays will be publicized on our website.

Each play entered should be accompanied by a $25.00 contest fee. Please make your check or money order payable to Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. There are no limits to the number of entries by a single playwright.

Plays should be no more than one-hour in length and never previously produced or published. The University of New Orleans produces the winning entry. Production criteria include scripts requiring minimal technical support for a 60-seat theatre and small casts of characters with an age range of 20 through 40. Play content is NOT limited to Tennessee Williams or New Orleans-related themes.

If you would like confirmation that your manuscript has been received, enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard with your submission materials. DO NOT send manuscripts certified mail, or signature-required. The Tennessee Williams/ New Orleans Literary Festival publishes the names of the winner and the finalists on this website in early March.

Entries are judged anonymously. The playwright's name should not appear in the script. Please send two title pages with the text: one affixed to the text with the play's title only, another with all author information unattached. Plays must be typed. Please do not append professional resumes or biographies to your entry; the judges only consider manuscript quality. We regret that we are unable to return manuscripts. Please make sure to keep a copy of your entry for future use.

The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival reserves the right to publish all winning contest entries in special edition Festival anthologies and/or collections.

Mail your entry, check, and registration form to:

Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival
One-Act Play Contest
938 Lafayette Street, Suite 514
New Orleans, LA 70113