Len Jenkin

{{short description|American dramatist (born 1941)}}

{{infobox writer

|name=Len Jenkin

|birth_date={{birth date and age|1941|4|2}}

|birth_place=New York City, U.S.

|occupation={{flatlist|

• Playwright
• novelist
• screenwriter
• theatrical director

}}

|alma_mater=Columbia University

|children=Emily

}}

Len Jenkin (born April 2, 1941) is an American playwright, novelist, screenwriter, and theatrical director. He has won three Obie Awards, including two for writing and directing his 1980 play Limbo Tales.{{cite news |last=Downing |first=Margaret |url= https://www.houstonpress.com/arts/the-diabolical-plots-of-wolf-hall-come-to-houston-in-main-street-theaters-2016-17-season-8438384 |title=The Diabolical Plots of Wolf Hall Come to Houston in Main Street Theater's 2016-17 Season |work=Houston Press |date=May 29, 2016 |access-date=October 20, 2020}}

Born in New York City,{{cite news |url= https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/jenkin-len-1941 |title=Len Jenkin 1941- |work=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=October 20, 2020}} Jenkin attended Columbia University. He has also participated in the theatre lab at the Sundance Institute.{{cite news |last=Bracken |first=Drew|url= https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/news/local/granville/2016/04/13/denison-host-len-jenkin-produces-one-plays/82927350/ |title=Denison to host Len Jenkin, produces one of his plays |work=The Advocate |date=April 13, 2016 |access-date=October 20, 2020}}{{cite news |last=Simek |first=Peter |url= https://www.dmagazine.com/arts-entertainment/2016/03/playwright-len-jenkin-is-right-at-home-in-undermain-theatres-eccentric-space/ |title=Playwright Len Jenkin Is Right at Home in Undermain Theatre's Eccentric Space |work=D Magazine |date=March 28, 2016 |access-date=October 20, 2020}} Jenkin has influenced fellow playwright Mac Wellman in his own teaching.{{cite news |last=Farrington |first=Sara |url= https://brooklynrail.org/2020/03/theater/MAC-WELLMAN-with-Sara-Farrington |title=Power & Punk: New York's Avant-garde Lifers |work=Brooklyn Rail |date=March 2020 |access-date=October 20, 2020}}

In addition to his Obie Awards, Jenkin has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and won the Rockefeller Foundation Award. He has been nominated for an Emmy Award and four National Endowment for the Arts fellowships.

As a writer for television, Jenkin has produced scripts for Family, The Incredible Hulk, and ABC Afterschool Special. His novels include New Jerusalem (also a play) and The Secret Life of Billy's Uncle Myron. The latter was written with his daughter Emily Jenkins, better known as the novelist E. Lockhart.