2026 INITIATIVE RECIPIENT
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ABOUT YORK WALKER
York is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter from Chicago, Illinois. His Off-Broadway play Covenant premiered at Roundabout Theatre Company to critical acclaim, earning a New York Times Critics Pick. He is the inaugural recipient of both the Vineyard Theatre's Colman Domingo Award and the John Singleton Screenwriting Award. His work includes Holcomb & Hart (Victory Garden's New Plays For A New Year Festival), The Séance (Winner of the John Singleton Screenwriting Competition, 48 Hours... in Harlem), Covenant (Colman Domingo Award, Roundabout Underground, South Coast Repertory's Pacific Playwrights Festival, Fire This Time Festival), White Shoes (Fire This Time Festival), and Soul Records (workshops with Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Manhattan Theatre Club, the Vineyard Theatre, and Roundabout Theatre Company). York is currently developing new works with Roundabout Theatre Company, South Coast Repertory Theatre, The Geffen Playhouse, and The Goodman Theatre. His contributions extend to the realm of television, having served as Story Editor and Staff Writer for two seasons on Dick Wolf's hit series, FBI. York is a graduate of the MFA Acting program from the American Conservatory Theatre.
THE JESSE L. KEARNEY PLAYWRITING INITIATIVE provides Black Male-identifying playwrights (ages 18+) the opportunity to be selected for a 29-hour reading of their original work, sponsored by Black Broadway Men, Inc.
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The awarded playwright will receive an honorarium of $1,000.
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The playwright will be provided a director and a professional cast to present their play in an invite-only reading in New York City.
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The playwright will have access to mentorship opportunities through BBM’s membership roster of working professionals across the theater community.