Former director of the Proms concerts Nicholas Kenyon is knighted, while while playwright and author Hanif Kureishi - best known for his 1990 novel The Buddha of Suburbia - becomes a CBE.

BBC: Minogue tops showbiz honours list

Years ago, I interviewed an American playwright who gladly confessed that all the best bits in his play were simply lifted from life.

BBC: You COULD make it up

The tales that Cunningham and Marberry collected were eventually turned into a theater piece by playwright and director Regina Taylor, perhaps best known as the Golden Globe award-winning actress in the television series I'll Fly Away.

NPR: 'Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats'

Zoe Kazan, one of the best of the crop of young American actresses, is also a playwright and screenwriter.

NEWYORKER: Ticket to Paradise

Playwright Simon Stephens, who adapted Mark Haddon's best-selling novel, joked on stage: "It's a remarkable thing to win an award for popularity - normally people leave my plays in a state of terror!"

BBC: Sheridan Smith and Rupert Everett shine at theatre awards

This Florentine, best known for his political and philosophical writings, was also a comedic playwright.

BBC: Through the pages of Tuscany