Each year, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awards 175 fellowships to artists and scholars who have not only excelled in their chosen field, but show potential for future achievement as well.
Among this year’s winners is playwright Martyna Majok, a 2012 graduate of the Yale School of Drama (now the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale). Majok’s 2022 play “Sanctuary City” is currently running at TheaterWorks in Hartford.
While the Guggenheim Foundation does not disclose exactly how much money each recipient is awarded, most receive awards in the $30,000-$45,000 range.
Majok was born in Poland, and grew up in New Jersey and Chicago. Most of her plays, including “Sanctuary City” focus on the immigrant experience in the U.S.
Majok’s Guggenheim Fellowship adds to a long list of awards she has earned over the years, including the Steinberg Playwright Award, the Arthur Miller Foundation Legacy Award, and the Obie Award for Playwriting. In 2018, Majok won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, for her play, “Cost of Living”.
Majok is currently writing a musical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby” with music by Florence Welch (Florence and the Machine) and Thomas Bartlett.
Majok’s “Sanctuary City” runs through April 25 at TheaterWorks in Hartford.
