NEW YORK CITY: The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust has named Ayad Akhtar and Lucas Hnath the winners of the 2017 Steinberg Playwright Awards. They will each receive a $50,000 prize. The playwrights will be recognized at the “Mimi” Awards on Dec. 4 at Lincoln Center Theater.

The Steinberg Playwright Awards are presented biennially to playwrights in early and middle stages of their careers. Hnath, whose plays include A Doll’s House, Part 2, The Christians, and Red Speedo, among others, has won two Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award Citations in the past.

Akhtar won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Disgraced. His other titles include The Invisible Hand, The Who & The What, and Junk, which will begin preview performances at Lincoln Center Theater on Oct. 5.

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust was created by Harold Steinberg in 1986 in his name and the name of his late wife, Miriam. The Trust’s primary mission is to support and promote the American theatre by nurturing American playwrights, encouraging the development and production of new American plays, and providing significant support to not-for-profit theater companies across the country.