Emerging Writer to Give Lecture, Reading of Winning Work on Aug. 8 In another record-breaking year for submissions, Chautauqua Institution is delighted to announce “Bread, Meat, and Water” by Stefan Bindley-Taylor as the winner of the 2025 Chautauqua Janus Prize. “Bread, Meat, and Water” was selected from 11 finalists as the winner by this year’s guest judge Marita Golden, who described the short story as one that illustrates “a world in which everything is changing all at once and all the time, challenging and reshaping values, and dreams even as the foundational impulses that connect us as humans prevail.” ...
Chautauqua Literary Arts and the Department of Education at Chautauqua Institution are pleased to announce 11 finalists for the 2025 Chautauqua Janus Prize. To be awarded this summer for the eighth time, the Janus Prize has enjoyed a steady increase of interest among emerging writers and this year saw another record-breaking number of submissions. This year, 210 writers entered work to be considered for the prize that looks to celebrate an emerging writer’s single work of short fiction or nonfiction for daring formal and aesthetic innovations that upset and reorder readers’ imagination. The 11 finalists for the 2025 Janus Prize and their...
Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC) today announced their full mainstage season for 2025. In addition to the previously announced world premiere of Tell Me You’re Dying by C.A. Johnson, CTC will produce Execution of Justice by Emily Mann, a reexamined version to be directed by Mann herself. Emily Mann is a Tony-nominated director and playwright and a Tony Award-winning Artistic Director. In her 30 years as Artistic Director and Resident Playwright at McCarter Theatre Center, she wrote 15 new plays and adaptations, directed over 50 productions, produced 180 plays and musicals, and supported and directed the work of emerging and legendary...
Chautauqua Institution is expanding its tradition of live music with an exciting new offering this fall. On September 5, 2025, Bonnie Raitt — a 13-time Grammy Award winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee — will take the Amphitheater stage. This event marks the first major concert outside of Chautauqua’s traditional nine-week season, which is in session from late June to late August, opening the door for more spring and fall programming on the grounds. “Bringing one of music’s most celebrated artists to the stage, we hope this concert welcomes both longtime patrons and new audiences to Chautauqua...
Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), the resident theater company of Chautauqua Institution, today announced their commission and development of a musical adaptation of The Crossover, the critically acclaimed novel by New York Times best-selling author and Chautauqua Institution’s Michael I. Rudell Artistic Director of Literary Arts and writer-in-residence Kwame Alexander. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Jade King Carroll, CTC is cementing its reputation as a national home for exciting new works. Carroll’s tenure has brought a renewed focus on commissioning, developing and producing works from new and established American playwrights. This commitment to fostering innovative storytelling is exemplified with...
As we approach the end of the year, now is the perfect time to invest in your personal growth and professional skills through engaging online classes this fall. From meaningful conversations about end-of-life care to mastering the art of storytelling, there’s something for everyone. Here’s a look at some upcoming sessions you won’t want to miss! 1. Courageous Conversations on Death and Dying: The Time is Now! Instructor: Dr. Shahid AzizDate: Thursday, October 31, 2024Time: 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. ETCost: $49 Register Here In this interactive session, Dr. Shahid Aziz, a medical ethicist and hospice physician, will guide you...
Dear Friends of Chautauqua, We remember with sadness and hope on this day the significance of “Juneteenth”, when on June 19, 1865, federal troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas to announce to the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state that they were freed by executive decree. Although President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was intended to free all enslaved persons as of January 1, 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. Thus, it would take two and half years for freedom to finally come to the westernmost Confederate state of Texas. And yet…freedom did...
Chautauqua Institution today announced headliners Plena Libre on July 17 and Sonia De Los Santos on July 28, bringing bi-lingual programming to Chautauqua Institution’s Amphitheater during its sesquicentennial celebration. Plena Libre’s performance and master class are programmed on Education Wednesday and Sonia De Los Santos’ performance has been programmed on a free Sunday as part of Chautauqua’s Family Entertainment series. “I am thrilled to invite these wonderful performers to Chautauqua this summer,” shared Vice President of Visual and Performing Arts Laura Savia. “These concerts will be a joyous opportunity to hear great music and to celebrate the rich Latin American...
Each Receives $100,000 Grant to Further Democracy Work Chautauqua Institution proudly introduces Melody Barnes and David French as the inaugural recipients of the Chautauqua Perry Fellowship in Democracy. Barnes is the executive director of the Karsh Institute of Democracy at the University of Virginia; French is a widely read opinion columnist at The New York Times. Both will be able to use the distinction and funding afforded by the Perry Fellowship to further democracy-focused personal and professional projects of their choice, in addition to their roles with their home institutions and shared projects with Chautauqua Institution. This announcement comes just...
After a four-year hiatus, the Department of Religion is excited to announce this summer’s Abrahamic Program for Young Adults (APYA) Coordinators. During the 2024 Summer Assembly, Allison Blackwell, Madison Cissell, Mohammed Jibriel and Zackary Steinberg will participate in departmental programs such as the Interfaith Lecture Series, CHQ Dialogues, Mystic Heart Meditation, and the Interfaith Sacred Song Service. Working together, APYA Coordinators will also design and implement a new program based on their mutual interests and vocational goals. Please join us in welcoming this summer’s APYA Coordinators! 2024 Coordinators Allison Blackwell grew up on a farm north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She...
