Keli Goff, special correspondent for The Root, was named one of 10 new playwrights for the Public Theater's 2014-2015 Emerging Writers Group.
The Public Theater announced on Tuesday that Goff, along with nine other playwrights, was selected out of some 475 applicants to participate in the fifth cycle of the program, which cultivates talent "at the earliest stages in their career."
The Emerging Writers Group is a component of the Public Writers Initiative, a long-term program that provides key support and resources for writers.
Writers for EWG are selected biannually and receive a two-year fellowship at the Public. EWG members read from their works and also participate in a biweekly writers group led by the Public’s literary department.
Other playwrights joining Goff include Kevin Artigue, Damon Chua, Ricardo Pérez González, Glenn Gordon, Elizabeth Irwin, Paola Lázaro-Muñoz, Patricia Ione Lloyd, Jiehae Park and Sarah Sander.
"It is a dynamic and diverse group, and we look forward to launching the next round of EWG together," said Public Theater Associate Artistic Director Mandy Hackett. "This program is only possible because of the Time Warner Foundation’s deep commitment to providing opportunity to the next generation of playwrights."
Goff's writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, the Houston Chronicle, Time, Cosmopolitan and Essence. She is the author of two books: the nonfiction Party Crashing: How the Hip-Hop Generation Declared Political Independence and the novel The GQ Candidate.