The board of directors of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust has announced the creation of two major playwriting awards to be given biennially, reports the Associated Press.

The first prize of $200,000 will be given this September to an established American playwright as part of the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award while the Steinberg Emerging Playwrights Award, to honor two early-career playwrights, will begin in 2009 with award stipends of $50,000.

The New York Times reports that the prize of $200,000 for established playwrights is among the largest ever given in American theater.

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