Two Irish artists - choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan and playwright and screenwriter Enda Walsh - have been selected by the Meadows School of the Arts at SMU as the recipients of the third annual Meadows Prize arts residency. The pair will be in residency at SMU in fall 2012 for four weeks. They will collaborate with SMU theatre and dance students to create a new dance/theatre production that is slated for a major European festival in 2013.

The Meadows Prize is an annual award that began in October 2009 and is awarded to up to two recipients each year. The award is given to honor the accomplishments of an artist at the pinnacle of a distinguished career. All recipients must be pioneering artists and scholars with an emerging international profile. The Meadows Prize includes support for a four-to-eight week residency in Dallas, a $25,000 stipend and in exchange, the recipients are expected to interact with Meadows students and leave a lasting legacy in Dallas.

Michael Keegan-Dolan is one of Ireland's most talented, challenging and innovated choreographers. He is co-founder and artistic director of Dublin's Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre, an award-winning company launched in 1997. Multiple Fabulous Beast productions have been nominated for Olivier Awards (the British equivalent of the Tony Awards) and The Bull won the U.K. Critics' Circle Award for Best Modern Choreography in 2008.

The other recipient, Enda Walsh, was born in Dublin and is currently living in London. A playwright and screenwriter, Walsh's big breakthrough came with the production of his play Disco Pigs. The play won three awards, including the Stewart Parker and George Devine Awards, in 1997 and was made into a film. His other awards include four Edinburgh Fringe First awards, two Critic's Awards, a Herald Archangel Award, an Abbey Theatre Writer in Association Award and an Obie Award.