For Immediate Release
April 1, 2026
Contact: Jenni Werner
THE NEW HARMONY PROJECT ANNOUNCES LINEUP FOR 2026 WRITERS’ RESIDENCY
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: The New Harmony Project (Jenni Werner, Executive Artistic Director), a national non-profit arts organization dedicated to supporting writers interrogating the complexity of hope, has announced the lineup for their 39th annual spring residency in idyllic New Harmony, Indiana. This year’s residency will feature an intimate community of 14 artists in residence, supported by a team of professional artists in theatre, film and television. The residency will be held from May 21-May 31, 2026.
“When we want to understand a deep truth about our existence, we look to the writers amongst us for guidance, hope, and a vision for the future,” said Jenni Werner, Executive Artistic Director. “The New Harmony Project was founded to nurture stories in film, television and theatre, and we’re returning to those roots with an intentional focus on projects for film and television, crafted by our alumni writers. The residents of New Harmony have always believed that we can work together to create a better world, and that is a kind of magic that this year’s exceptional writers will draw on for inspiration, rejuvenation, and creativity.”
Following an intensive selection process, a paid selection panel of writers who work in film, television, and theatre made recommendations for the 2026 company.
The 2026 Artists in Residence include: KOKAYI (Grammy-nominated musician, You are Ketchup: and Other Fly Music Tales), Psalmayene 24 (Young John Lewis: Prodigy of Protest), Ryan Amador (The Future Perfect Project, Q2), Bleu Beckford-Burell (The End of the Line Anthology), Kristiana Rae Colón (The Chi, BLK EURYDICE), Ty Defoe (Ojibwe and Oneida Nations, Firebird Tattoo), Sarah Galante (Swallow Me Whole), Peter Gil-Sheridan (This Space Between Us), MJ Kaufman (Therapist Crush), Sondai NaNaBuluku (DOOMPOCALYPSE), a.k. payne (Furlough’s Paradise), Nia Akilah Robinson (The Great Privation; Or How to Flip Ten Cents into a Dollar), Kap Taylor (Writers’ Room Assistant, I Suck at Girls), and Caity-Shea Violette (RX Machina).
In the Productions in Residence Program, NHP is thrilled to partner with Mosaic Theater (Washington, D.C., Artistic Director Reginald Douglas) to support the development of The People v. Marion Barry, a new musical by 24K (Helen Hayes Award winning theater artist Psalmayene 24 and Grammy-nominated artist KOKAYI). The project is a docu-musical based on interviews with Washingtonians who knew Marion Barry, the late mayor of Washington, DC. Exploring this complex and polarizing figure through the stories and insights of those most familiar with him, this unconventional musical will center the cultural, racial, and sociopolitical landscape Barry navigated while giving shape to the soulful and rhythmic way he moved through the world. The workshop will be directed by Raymond O. Caldwell and dramaturged by Chelsea Radigan. There will be a public sharing of the musical in New Harmony on May 30.
Partnerships are central to NHP’s vision for a healthy arts ecosystem, and in 2026, the organization will continue its partnership with the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards, a recognition for select writers through the American College Theatre Festival. This year the awards will support three MFA playwrights participating in the residency. Additionally, NHP is proud to launch a new programming partnership with Humanitas, a Los Angeles-based organization that honors and empowers television and film writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced, meaningful way.
The public will be invited to a weekend Celebration of New Stories on May 29th and 30th in New Harmony, IN, featuring readings and events celebrating the 2026 writers and Residency participants. More information, including bios for the writers, can be found at https://www.newharmonyproject.org/2026-residency-announcement.
The 2026 New Harmony Project writers were selected by a panel of paid readers, including: Carla Ching, Monet Hurst-Mendoza, and Harrison David Rivers.
ABOUT THE NEW HARMONY PROJECT
The New Harmony Project is Indiana’s premier destination for the development of scripts for the stage and screen. NHP is a national arts organization whose mission is to nurture writers in the development of scripts and new stories that interrogate the complexity of hope. Through artist-centered programming, we care for artists so they can change the world. The organization was founded in 1986 when a group of theatre, film, and television professionals gathered to engage and support writers whose work sought not just to entertain, but to empower and uplift. It was out of this meeting that The New Harmony Project was created.
For nearly four decades, The New Harmony Project’s flagship program has been its Annual Writers' Residency, held in the peaceful serenity of New Harmony, Indiana. There, writers are provided time and space to dream, create, develop, and workshop new scripts. The Residency stands apart from other programs in the country with its focus on community. In 2024, The New Harmony Project began to expand its support and care of alumni writers, as well as significantly expanding support for the further development of new work through PlayFest Indy, a season of new play development produced in partnership with Indianapolis producing theatre companies.
The New Harmony Project boasts an impressive roster of past participants including Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson (Mexodus), Erika Dickerson-Despenza (Susan Smith Blackburn Prize winner cullud wattah, 2019 Princess Grace Award), Rajiv Joseph (King James, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo), Robert Schenkkan (All the Way, The Great Society, Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner), Theresa Rebeck (Bernhardt/Hamlet, NBC’s Smash, Seminar), Lee Blessing (Tony and Pulitzer Prize nominee, A Walk in the Woods), Steven Dietz (Lonely Planet), Donnetta Lavinia Grays (Where We Stand, Last Night and the Night Before), Vichet Chum (Kween, Bald Sisters, 2018 Princess Grace Award), James Still (four time Pulitzer Prize nominee, The Velocity of Gary), Meredith Stiehm (Emmy winner, Homeland, Cold Case), Danny Strong (two time Emmy winner, Empire, Lee Daniels’ The Butler), George Brant (Grounded, Marie and Rosetta), Idris Goodwin (Break Beat Play, How We Got On), Regina Taylor (Drowning Crow, Crowns), Anna Ziegler (Photograph 51, Actually), Dael Orlandersmith (After the Flood), Jim Leonard (Major Crimes, Dexter), Ngozi Anyanwu (The Homecoming Queen, Good Grief), Mark St. Germain (Freud’s Last Session, The Cosby Show), Matt Williams (Home Improvement, Roseanne), David McFadzean (Home Improvement, Roseanne) and Angelo Pizzo (Rudy, Hoosiers).
The New Harmony Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. For information on how to support this unique and worthwhile organization, please visit www.newharmonyproject.org.
About Humanitas
Since 1974, Humanitas has honored and empowered television and film writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced, meaningful way. Humanitas distinguishes itself among other artistic organizations by celebrating stories that explore the human experience, because we believe that the act of acknowledging our common humanity is transformational. For more information on Humanitas, connect with Humanitas at www.humanitasprize.org or on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky.
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