Samuel D. Hunter (born 1981) is an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

living in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Hunter was born and raised in

Moscow, Idaho Moscow ( ) is a city in North Central Idaho, United States. Located along the state border with Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 census. The county seat and largest city of Latah County, Moscow is the home of the Univers ...

. He is best known for plays ''A Bright New Boise'', which won the 2011 Obie Award for playwriting, and ''The Whale'', which won the 2013

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

and the 2013

Lucille Lortel Award The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres ...

for Outstanding Play. He is also the recipient of a 2014

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

. He has also been a guest lecturer at

Rutgers University–New Brunswick Rutgers University–New Brunswick is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, New Jersey's public research university. It is located in New Brunswick and Piscataway. It is the oldest campus of the university, the others being in ...

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

, and other universities. Hunter is also a writer and producer for the television show ''

Baskets A basket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehai ...

''. A film adaptation of ''The Whale'', written by Hunter and directed by

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction. Arono ...

, was released in December 2022.

Produced plays

* ''Five Genocides'' (2010) * ''Jack's Precious Moment'' (2010) * ''A Bright New Boise'' (2010) * ''Norway'' (2011) * ''A Permanent Image'' (2011) * ''The Whale'' (2012) * ''Pocatello'' (2014) * ''The Few'' (2014) * ''A Great Wilderness'' (2014) * ''Rest'' (2014) * ''Clarkston'' (2015) * ''Lewiston'' (2016) * ''The Healing'' (2016) * ''The Harvest'' (2016) * ''Lewiston/Clarkston'' (2018) * ''Greater Clements'' (2019) * ''A Case for the Existence of God'' (2022)

Awards and honors

*2008–2009

Lark Play Development Center The Lark, formerly Lark Play Development Center, was a non-profit organization, headquartered in Manhattan, New York that sought to help discover and develop playwrights A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The wo ...

Playwrights of New York Fellowship * 2011

Drama Desk The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fol ...

Nomination for Best Play *2011 Obie Award for Playwriting * 2012 Whiting Award * 2013

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ( LGBT) community and the issues that affect their l ...

for Outstanding New York Theatre (Broadway and Off-Broadway) * 2013

Special Award * 2013

for Best Play * 2014

* 2015 Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from the University of Idaho * 2019

Nomination for Best Play * 2020

Nomination for Best Play *2013–2020 Resident Playwright at New Dramatists

Notes

External links

Samuel D. Hunter's New Dramatists PageProfile and Production History at The Whiting Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Samuel D. 1981 births Living people 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights People from Moscow, Idaho American male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American male writers MacArthur Fellows Writers from Idaho

Produced plays

Awards and honors

See also

Notes

External links