Competition for writers
Futurological Congress
AI and us – How artificial intelligence is changing our everyday lives
As part of the Futurological Congress – an interdisciplinary event format at the intersection of art and science – the South Tyrolean Authors’ Association (SAAV), the South Tyrolean Theatre Association (STV), and the research center Eurac Research invite authors to submit a full-length stage play that artistically and critically engages with artificial intelligence.
We are looking for plays that address the opportunities and challenges of AI as well as its future impacts and developments. At the heart of this call are the following questions: How is artificial intelligence changing our lives – our work, our relationships, our thinking, our language? And, not least: How do we, as a society, want to help shape this transformation?
We seek plays that explore the topic of AI in multi-layered, critical, poetic, or humorous ways and that contribute to a broader societal dialogue. What we are looking for are original perspectives, strong dramatic voices, and stories that portray a future that has already begun.
Literary form
Eligible for the competition are full-length plays written in German and/or Italian that have neither been published nor submitted to another competition, nor performed on stage. Texts disseminated on the internet are also considered published.
Each author may submit only one text. Joint submissions by multiple authors are permitted; in the event of a prize, the award will be divided among the contributors.
The plays must be available for a world premiere until the jury’s decision is announced.
Conditions of participation
The competition is open to all authors from the Euregio who were either born in North, East, or South Tyrol or in Trentino, or who currently reside there. Entries must be submitted by e-mail as a PDF file in Arial font, size 12, with 1.5 line spacing.
The text must not contain any information or references to the author.
Please ensure that margins are sufficient (at least 2.5 cm).
Submission
Participation in the competition is only possible by e-mail to autorenwettbewerb@stv.bz.it. Please state “Authors’ Competition: AI and Us” in the subject line. Submissions are anonymous, i.e. without mentioning the author’s name in the text document. In addition, please enclose the following documents in a separate file:
- Contact details (name, address, telephone number, e-mail address)
- A short synopsis of the submitted play
- A short biography of the author
All participants will receive a confirmation of receipt. By submitting their work, authors accept the terms and conditions of the competition.
Performance rights
The authors of the first three winning plays agree to the world premiere of their works. The prize includes the performance rights for the world premiere as well as for further performances directly connected to it. Legal recourse is excluded.
Jury
A panel of experts, composed of representatives of various institutions, will select the winning entries from among the submitted texts. The authors of the first three winning plays will receive a written statement of the jury’s reasoning. The jury reserves the right not to provide written evaluations for the remaining submissions. No correspondence will be conducted regarding the competition. The decisions of the jury are final and binding.
The submission deadline is 30 June 2026.
The winners will be determined by 30 November 2026. The awards will be presented within the framework of the Futurological Congress in May 2027.
Prizes
1st prize: €3,000
2nd prize: €2,000
3rd prize: €1,000
The jury reserves the right to award three, two, one, or no prizes.
Bolzano, 6 October 2025
Timeline
