New School for Drama playwright Dan Bernitt, class of 2011, has been invited to a three-month writing residency at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico, for the summer of 2010. The foundation selects 11 artists from a variety of disciplines—painters, poets, sculptors, writers, composers, photographers, filmmakers—for three-month residencies, providing space to only 33 artists each year.

Along with his application, Bernitt had to submit curriculum vitae, his teaching experience, and a listing of his honors and awards, as well as a writing sample. He submitted his play Phi Alpha Gamma, which was also nominated for a Lambda Literary Award last year. Since the fellowship runs between his second and third year of study at Drama, he hopes to get a draft of his final-year thesis play completed, in addition to completing as many other writing projects as possible.

Visit www.wurlitzerfoundation.org  for more information.

Bernitt also recently received the 2009 Robert Chesley Award for Lesbian and Gay Playwriting, awarded by The Publishing Triangle in honor of playwright Robert Chesley; past award winners have included Paula Vogel, Eric Bentley, Maria Irene Fornes, and Drama playwriting faculty member Christopher Shinn, among others.