via Write It Out!
New York, NY (June 30, 2025) — While federally funded HIV/AIDS programs are threatened, Write It Out! (WIO!) has decided to double down in its commitment to the Poz community. Donja R. Love, WIO! Founder and Executive Director, is proud to announce that the writing initiative is accepting applications for its Write It Out! Prize and Program. Now in its sixth year, the program is a 10-week virtual playwriting workshop for people living with HIV and AIDS. The free virtual program, led by Love, cultivates a space for individuals living with HIV to develop their artistic voice within a community of other Poz people. The chosen cohort develops tools to center their narratives in theatrical work, aiming to expand their imagination and foster healing. Following the workshop’s conclusion, the 2025 cohort will collaborate with professional directors and actors to present their short plays for the program’s in-person final sharing on World AIDS Day, December 1st. A stipend and a trip to NYC, which includes attending Broadway shows, are provided.
In addition to the annual 10-week program, Love launched the Write It Out! Prize in 2021, which is annually given to a playwright living with HIV. The prize now includes a $10,000 unrestricted cash prize and a dramaturg to assist the recipient in developing a new play. The inaugural recipient of the prize was Dominic Colón, a playwright living with HIV, for his play The War I Know. The 2021 Write It Out! Prize was funded by Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor Billy Porter, known for his roles on the hit TV show Pose and the musical Kinky Boots.
Applications for the 2025 edition of Write It Out! (the program and prize) are now open and will be accepted through Wednesday, July 30th at 11:59 PM ET at www.letswriteitout.com.
Founded by award-winning Poz playwright and advocate Donja R. Love in 2019, Write It Out! (WIO!) uses art, advocacy, and accessibility to provide a space for people living with HIV and AIDS to tell their stories. Holistically, WIO! uses the power of imagination and healing to help shed the shame of living with HIV and combat stigma. Artistically, through writing initiatives, WIO! strengthens participants’ artistic voices and works to transform society and the theatrical landscape into a more equitable and stigma-free space for people living with HIV and AIDS. With a "For Us, By Us" Leadership Model, WIO! is led by individuals directly impacted by HIV. Write It Out! is supported by ViiV Positive Action, The Terrence McNally Foundation, GLAAD, and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Ted, an alumnus living with HIV whose last name will remain confidential, describes the annual workshop:
“Write It Out! offers opportunities for its participants to reckon with their HIV status through art. Write It Out! gives its participants a community, a place to belong, a place void of isolation and shame. Write It Out! encourages people to speak their truth, to be engaged intellectually and emotionally, and to be unafraid,” said Ted, from the 2023 cohort. “At the age of 72, and after living with HIV since 1989, I found it to be one of the seminal events of my life. I am deeply grateful to every person and organization that supports this exceptional work.”
Dominic Colón, the inaugural recipient, says of the Write It Out! Prize, “I thought the prize for being named the inaugural recipient of Write It Out! Prize was going to be the money, but the real prize ended up being freedom. Coming out publicly about my HIV status not only liberated me as an artist but as a spirit on this earth. I am forever honored to be the inaugural recipient of the Write It Out! Prize.”
Write It Out! prioritizes the confidentiality of all applicants and participants. Individuals accepted into the program or chosen for the prize may opt to withhold their identity from publication. Requesting confidentiality will not influence the selection process.
“The humanity and life-affirming rights of people living with HIV are currently being stripped away. We don’t have many options. Write It Out! strives to be one. We provide a community for people living with HIV/AIDS to imagine, create, and heal. Every layer of WIO! is focused on the well-being of Poz people – from the submission process to the presentations. Our stories and humanity are at the center,” said Love, Founder & Executive Director.
Applicants for the program must submit a writing sample of no more than 10 pages to be considered, while applicants for the prize must submit an original full-length play (at this time, musicals are not accepted).
Write It Out! is supported by ViiV Positive Action, The Terrence McNally Foundation, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and GLAAD.
For more information about Write It Out! and to apply, visit www.letswriteitout.com.
