For media inquiries about the 2026 Writers Guild Awards New York City show, please contact Tiana Timmberberg at ttimmerberg@wgaeast.org.
The 79th Annual Writers Guild Awards
Date:
Saturday
February 13, 2027
Honorary Awards
Established in 1992 and named in memory of longtime WGAE member Ian McLellan Hunter, the Hunter Award is presented to a WGA member in honor of his/her body of work as a writer in motion pictures or television. Hunter’s more than 20 screen credits include Eye Witness and A Woman of Distinction. Harassed by the blacklist in the 1950s, Hunter went on to write several successful television series under a pseudonym and then reemerged as a writer on many television projects, including The Blue and The Gray. Appropriately, the first recipient of the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement in Writing was Hunter’s longtime friend and writing partner, Ring Lardner, Jr., whose movie credits include Woman Of The Year, M*A*S*H and The Cincinnati Kid.
Past Recipients
- 2026: Terry George
- 2025: Scott Frank
- 2024: Tony Gilroy
- 2023: Spike Lee
- 2022: Not Awarded
- 2021: Not Awarded
- 2020: Richard Price
- 2019: Tom Fontana
- 2018: Geoffrey C. Ward
- 2017: John Waters
- 2016: Richard LaGravenese
- 2015: Paul Haggis
- 2014: David Simon
- 2013: David Koepp
- 2012: Claire Labine
- 2011: Frank Gilroy
- 2010: Alan Zweibel
- 2009: John Patrick Shanley
- 2008: Not Awarded
- 2007: Andrew Bergman
- 2006: Marshall Brickman
- 2005: John Sayles
- 2004: Jules Feiffer
- 2003: Nora Ephron
- 2002: Donald E. Westlake
- 2001: Evan Hunter
- 2000: Herb Gardner
- 1999: Horton Foote
- 1998: William Persky
- 1997: Jay Presson Allen
- 1996: Ernest Kinoy
- 1995: Robert Benton
- 1994: Walter Bernstein
- 1993: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
- 1992: Ring Lardner, Jr
The Evelyn F. Burkey Award was established in 1978 to honor Burkey, who dedicated her professional life to supporting and helping writers. Burkey helped create the Writers Guild of America, East, in 1953 as the union of film, television and radio writers, independent of precursor organizations. She was the WGAE’s executive director until her retirement in 1972. The Burkey Award continues her mission by recognizing a person or an organization “whose contributions have brought honor and dignity to writers everywhere.”
Past Recipients
- 2022: Dick Cavett
- 2021: Not Awarded
- 2020: Not Awarded
- 2019: Franklin Leonard
- 2018: Not Awarded
- 2017: Not Awarded
- 2016: Senator Al Franken
- 2015: Norman Lear
- 2014: James Schamus
- 2013: Not Awarded
- 2012: Not Awarded
- 2011: The Television Academy Foundation’s Archive of American Television
- 2010: Edward Albee
- 2009: Committee to Protect Journalists
- 2008: Walter Bernstein
- 2007: Joan Didion
- 2006: Museum of Television and Radio
- 2005: Claire Labine
- 2004: Senator John McCain
- 2003: Martin Scorsese
- 2002: Colin Callender
- 2001: Tom Fontana
- 2000: Vaclav Havel
- 1999: David Brown
- 1998: Judy Crichton
- 1997: Sidney Lumet
- 1996: Ken Saro-Wiwa (posthumously)
- 1995: Dennis Potter(posthumously)
- 1994: Joan Ganz Cooney
- 1993: Arthur Miller
- 1992: Jacqueline Babbin
- 1991: George Schaefer
- 1990: Art Buchwald
- 1989: Horton Foote
- 1988: Andrew A. Rooney & Local 1101 & District 1 of the Communication Workers of America
- 1987: Edwin Newman
- 1986 Athol Fugard & Lloyd Richards
- 1985: Jerome B. Lurie
- 1984: Leonard Wasser
- 1983: Alan Wagner
- 1982: Herbert Brodkin
- 1981: Elmer W. Lower
- 1980: Walter Cronkite
- 1979: Barbara Schultz
- 1978: Fred Coe
Created in 2006 in honor of Sargent, who was president of the Writers Guild of America, East, for 14 years until his death on May 6, 2005, the Herb Sargent Award is awarded to a writer who embodies the spirit, commitment, and comic genius of Mr. Sargent as well as his dedication to mentoring new writers. A legendary writer and television producer, Sargent’s credits include being a writer/producer of Saturday Night Live for more than 20 years, the screenplay of Bye Bye Braverman, television specials for Bing Crosby, Milton Berle, Perry Como, Sammy Davis Jr., Alan King, Paul McCartney, Lily Tomlin, and Burt Bacharach, as well as extensive work in radio in the 1940s.
Past Recipients
- 2025: Bill Lawrence
- 2023: Paul Simms
- 2022: Not Awarded
- 2021: Not Awarded
- 2020: Paula Pell
- 2019: Not Awarded
- 2018: Tina Fey and Robert Carlock
- 2017: Steve O’Donnell
- 2013: Not Awarded
- 2012: Judd Apatow
- 2011: Not Awarded
- 2010: Gary David Goldberg
- 2009: Norman Stiles
- 2008: Not Awarded
- 2007: Lorne D. Michaels
- 2006: James L. Brooks
Established in 1978 to recognize devoted service to the Guild, the Jablow Award was created in honor of Richard B. Jablow, who helped found the WGAE, authored its constitution, and served as its first counsel.
Past Recipients
- 2025: Kathy McGee
- 2024: I.A.T.S.E., Teamsters, SAG-AFTRA and AFM
- 2023: Penelope Koechl
- 2022: Not Awarded
- 2021: Not Awarded
- 2020: Lisa Takeuchi Cullen
- 2019: Randall Jansta
- 2018: Hamilton Nolan
- 2017: Courtney Simon
- 2016: Melissa Salmons
- 2015: Jeremy Pikser
- 2014: Philip V. Pilato
- 2013: Bob Schneider
- 2012: Susan Kim
- 2011: Marianne Pryor
- 2010: David Steven Cohen
- 2009: Chris Albers & Tom Fontana
- 2008: Catherine Twohill
- 2007: Gail Lee
- 2006: Warren Leight
- 2005: John Auerbach
- 2004: Ellen M. Violett
- 2003: James Schamus
- 2002: Stephen Schiff
- 2001: Richard Wesley
- 2000: Ruth Gallo
- 1999: James H. Kaye
- 1998: Michael Winship
- 1997: Bruce R. Campbell
- 1996: Edward Pomerantz
- 1995: Albert Ruben
- 1994: George Malko
- 1993: Willie Kathryn Suggs
- 1992: Jane Bolllinger
- 1991: Corinne Jacker
- 1990: Herb Sargent
- 1989: Edward Adler & Mona Mangan
- 1988: Marc Siegel
- 1987: Claire Wood Labine
- 1986: Art Wallace
- 1985: Craig B. Fisher
- 1984: Ernest Pendrell
- 1983: Elihu Winer
- 1982: Jerome Coopersmith
- 1981: Ernest Kinoy & Loring Mandel
- 1980: Manya Starr & David Davidson
- 1979: Not Awarded
- 1978: Richard B. Jablow in memoriam
Named in honor of one of the Writers Guild of America, East’s most distinguished and courageous members, the Walter Bernstein Award is presented to honor writers who have demonstrated with creativity, grace and bravery a willingness to confront social injustice in the face of adversity.
Past Recipients
- 2026: Stephen Colbert
- 2024: Ron Nyswaner
- 2017: Jelani Cobb
