Edward Albee to be Honored by WGA, East

Edward Albee, the legendary playwright who has written more than 30 plays, among them Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, is to receive the Writers Guild of America, East’s (WGAE) Evelyn F. Burkey Award. Albee will receive the award not only because of the classic plays he has written, but also because of his role as the president of the Edward F. Albee Foundation, which was founded by Albee in 1967 as a way to serve writers and other artists. The Foundation maintains the William Flanagan Memorial Creative Persons Center, a residence where artists can go free of charge to work free from distraction.

Albee is no stranger to awards; in previous years he has won four Tony Awards (plus a special Tony for lifetime achievement), three Pulitzer Prizes and an Obie. He has also been a Kennedy Center honoree.

The Evelyn F. Burkey Award was created in honor of Evelyn Burkey, who helped to create the WGAE in 1953. She was its executive director until her retirement in 1972. Previous winners of the Evelyn F. Burkey Award include Walter Bernstein, Martin Scorsese, Arthur Miller and Walter Cronkite. Albee will receive his award at the 62nd annual Writers Guild Awards ceremony, to be held in New York City on Saturday, February 20th.