Moonlight writer wins PEN award

The playwright who inspired the Oscar-nominated movie Moonlight has won a prize from PEN America, the literary and human rights organization.

Tarell Alvin McCraney received an award for best mid-career playwright, PEN announced Wednesday. McCraney’s In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue is the basis for the acclaimed movie drama, which is up for eight nominations at Sunday night’s Academy Awards.

Suzan-Lori Parks, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for her play Topdog/ Underdog, received a PEN award for Master American Dramatist. Thomas Bradshaw, whose works include Burning and The Bereaved, was named best emerging playwright.