Barbara Blatner, lecturer in English at Yeshiva College, had the opportunity to attend a writer's residency in July 2018 at the Tyrone Guthrie Center in Monaghan, Ireland, a residential workplace for artists of all disciplines. Her play, Clearing, was recently named a Finalist in the Mazumdar Contest with the Alleyway Theatre in Buffalo, New York. Her play Years of Sky was a Second Rounder (semi-finalist) in the play script category in the upcoming Austin Film Festival, and was recently acquired by the 6th Floor Museum in Dallas, Texas.