Albee picks Irish writer as winner of new $10,000 US prize

A little-known Irish writer was named winner of a new playwriting prize Thursday after being singled out by Pulitzer-winning writer Edward Albee.

Albee selected John Austin Connolly, a retired psychologist from Dublin, to receive the inaugural David C. Horn Prize for Playwriting, a new $10,000 US honour spearheaded by Yale University.

The Boys from Siam, Connolly's winning play that is loosely based on the lives of 19th century Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker, will also be published by the Yale University Press and staged in a reading at the Yale Repertory Theatre.

Albee picked Connolly's play from more than 500 submissions for the fledgling honour, according to organizers.

To be eligible, submissions must be full-length, English-language plays that have not been previously published or produced.

Albee will also judge next year's competition, with other distinguished playwrights and directors to follow his lead in the future, organizers added.

The prize was established to honour the memory of U.S. publisher David Charles Horn.