Submissions open on 28 April 2025
Award Eligibility and Criteria for Entry
The winning writer will receive £3,000 and a 9-month mentoring programme with a leading Black British playwright.
The competition is open to any playwright of Caribbean or African descent, resident in the UK, and awarded to the Most Promising Playwright based on their submission of an original, new stage play in English and their application for the award. Entrants must confirm on their CV that that they are of African or Caribbean descent.
Entrants must be 25 years or under at the time of submission. The AFA reserves the right to disqualify any entry that does not meet the age criteria at the time of submission.
The play does not need to have been produced. However, if it has, only plays produced since August 2024 will be considered.
Each entrant can submit only one play. A play may also be nominated by a third party with the writer’s consent (e.g. via an agent).
Plays must be typed, full length and presented as double-spaced, single-sided, in Times New Roman, font 12pt and be a minimum of 40 pages and submitted as a .doc file or.pdf file (Word or PDF). Manuscripts cannot be altered after entry.
Television, radio plays and film scripts will not be considered.
Entries are online only and must be received not later than 5pm on 31 August 2025.
All applicants will be notified by email of their entry’s safe arrival. No correspondence will be entered into between the judges and applicants.
Only shortlisted writers will be contacted in early November 2025.
The writer of the winning play will be announced at The Alfred Fagon Award ceremony in December 2025.
The Mustapha Matura Award is supported by the Estate of Mustapha Matura, Garrick Charitable Trust, The Henry and Mary Kent Trust and many individual donors.
An entrant to the Mustapha Matura Award who wins the Alfred Fagon Award for Best New Play of the Year will not be eligible to be awarded the Mustapha Matura Award and Mentoring Programme in the same year.
To enter the Mustapha Matura Award and Mentoring Programme fill out the online submission form below.
An entrant to the Mustapha Matura Award who wins the Alfred Fagon Award for Best New Play of the Year will not be eligible to be awarded the Mustapha Matura Award and Mentoring Programme in the same year.
