Julián Mesri '20 Joins the Public Theater's 2020-2022 Emerging Writers Group

The Public Theater has announced its 2020-2022 Emerging Writers Group with recent alum Julián Mesri '20 listed among the ten new playwrights to be part of the prestigious program. Selected from more than 550 applicants, Mesri will participate in the long-term group that offers key support and resources for writers at every stage of their careers.

“I feel extremely honored and fortunate - I’m also excited about this diverse group of artists who bring such a wonderful range of experiences and styles to the table, and especially to be part of an institution like the Public right after leaving Columbia,” Mesri said in a comment. “Making theater in this time feels so weird and uncertain but I’m also curious to see what role plays and musicals will play in our lives as we not only deal with this pandemic but also this push to hold institutions and gatekeepers accountable for the white supremacy in our field.”

Julián Mesri is a New York-based Argentinean-American writer and composer who makes multilingual plays and musicals in the US and around the world. Recent productions include Immersion (Ingenio Festival at Milagro Theater, BAPF Semi-Finalist), The Gauchos Americanos (Teatro Extranjero, Buenos Aires), and the upcoming musical Telo. Other work includes music directing/arranging Songs About Trains with Radical Evolution, composing music for The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit presentation of Pablo Neruda’s Romeo y Julieta, and a new commissioned musical for young audiences, The Adventures of Snow White, to tour China in 2021. Mesri has been an Emerging Artist of Color Fellow at NYTW, a Van Lier fellow at Repertorio Español, and the recipient of an ASCAP Scholarship. His adaptation of Fuenteovejuna received the HOLA Outstanding Production award. As a translator, he has worked for both the Lark U.S./Mexico Exchange and PEN World Voices. He received his MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University and is a 2020 Sokoloff Arts Creative Fellow.

Now in its eighth cycle, the Emerging Writers Group is an ongoing initiative that targets playwrights at the earliest stages of their career, creating an artistic home and offering support and resources for a remarkable group of up-and-coming playwrights. Writers are selected biennially and receive a two-year fellowship at The Public, which includes a stipend. Staged readings of works by Emerging Writers Group members are presented in the Spotlight Series at The Public. The playwrights also participate in a bi-weekly writers group led by The Public's New Work Development department and master classes led by established playwrights. Additionally, they have a chance to observe rehearsals for productions at The Public, receive career development advice from mid-career and established writers, and receive artistic and professional support from the New Work Development department and Public artistic staff. Members of the group also receive complimentary tickets to Public Theater shows, invited dress rehearsals, and other special events, as well as a supplemental stipend for tickets to productions at other theaters.