SAND by Trista Baldwin

Trista Baldwin (Playwright, SAND) is the recipient of two Jerome Fellowships (04-05 and 05-06) and a 2006-2007 McKnight Advancement Grant. Her work has been produced and developed nationally by groups including New Georges, LaMama, The Guthrie, The Empty Space Theater, Circle X, ESP, Stark Raving Theater, BPP, Overlap, Hypothetical, Synchronicity, Urban Stages, National New Play Network and HB Playwrights’ Foundation. Recent projects include DOE at the Tokyo International Festival, FALLING UP at Perishable Theatre Company and TERRA AUSTRALIS INCOGNITO, commissioned by The Production Company. Other plays include ELECTROPUSS, the cult-hit CHICKS WITH DICKS and the award-winning PATTY RED PANTS. Publications include WADE THE BIRD available through Playscripts, and PWC Monologues For Women, available through Heinnemann. Trista is a founding member of the Workhaus Collective, an Associated Artist of New Georges and a Core Member of The Playwrights’ Center. A native of the woods of Washington State, Trista has lived in NYC, which she misses all the time, and Arizona, which she only misses in winter. She received her Bachelor’s from The Evergreen State College and her MFA from ASU. Trista currently makes her home in Minneapolis where she is a professor of playwriting at St. Cloud State University.

VELOCITY by Daniel MacDonald

Daniel Macdonald (Playwright, VELOCITY) is a playwright, actor, director and teacher. He holds degrees from St. F.X. University, St. Mary’s University (Nova Scotia) and the University of Regina. His play PAGEANT premiered at Alberta Theatre Projects’ National PlayRites Festival in Calgary and has had productions in Regina, Fort MacMurray, Alberta and Austin, Texas. MACGREGOR'S HARD ICE CREAM AND GAS has had productions at Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon, Prairie Theatre Exchange (Winnipeg), and Ship’s Company (Nova Scotia). He recently co-wrote and directed the film series REDEMPTION, SK. He has taught both at university and high school and has collaborated on several plays with and for young people, including TRAGEDIE and WAKING. As a teacher/coach his high school improv team won the Canadian National Improv Championship. He is the former president of the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre as well as a recipient of the Regina Writer’s Award. He is also two-time winner of the SIMPIA showcase award for acting. He lives in Regina, Saskatchewan with his wife, Heather, his daughter, Averie and Eddy, the Cat.

RAISINS, NOT VIRGINS by Sharbari Ahmed

Sharbari Ahmed (Playwright, RAISINS NOT VIRGINS) was born in Dhaka Bangladesh, but came to American when she was three weeks old. She received an MA in creative writing from NYU. Her short fiction has been published in The Gettysburg Review, Catamaran and the Asian Pacific American Journal. She wrote the introduction to the Barnes and Noble e-book version of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility which has been translated into over ten languages. In 2003 Raisins Not Virgins won a First Words Literary Prize for South Asian American writers. The piece has been performed at Artwallah in L.A., and Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. It has been taught at Boston University and mentioned in three separate academic books. Sharbari couldn't tell you what these books are about, and, besides, one was in German. In 2005 The Workshop Theater Co. developed and held readings and performances of earlier drafts of the play. In the spring of 2007 it had a staged reading at the Potpourri play reading festival in NY. The screenplay based on RAISINS NOT VIRGINS was both a Sundance Screenwriter's Lab finalist and a Tribeca All Access Finalist in 2007. Sharbari lives in Darien, CT with her husband and son and is a co-founder of Muslims For Peace.

SHE LIKE GIRLS by Chisa Hutchinson

Chisa Hutchinson (Playwright, SHE LIKES GIRLS) studied theater at Vassar College and at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neil Center. Since then, her work has been performed at such venues as the Workshop Theater, NYC Theater Slam, and Vital Theater. She was a recipient of the Molly Thatcher Kazan Memorial Prize in Theater and a finalist in the New Generation Playwriting Competition. Most recently, Chisa ventured (predictably) into screenwriting and earned semi-finalist status in an International Writing Competition sponsored by Talent Scout and WriteMovies.com. For grocery money and human contact, Chisa teaches Playwriting and English Lit at Sage Hill School in Orange County, CA. She would like to thank the kid who drives a Hummer to school and the senior citizens who regularly raid her recycling bins for reminding her that there is always something to write about .

NOBODY by Richard Aellen

Richard Aellen (Playwright, NOBODY) worked variously as a steelworker, flight instructor, darkroom technician, busboy, and gold mine guard before he turned full-time to writing. During the Cold War he published five thrillers and an award-winning young adult novel, OZZY ON THE OUTSIDE. One of the thrillers, REDEYE, was translated into eight foreign languages and optioned by Warner Brothers. His first one act play, SQUARE ONE, was produced by the Manhattan Punchline Theatre and first full length play, FORGOTTEN VERDICT, won the Forest Roberts Playwriting Award and was produced at Northern Michigan University. Last year FARMERS OF MEN won the 2006 Stanley Drama Award while a one-act, SURPRISE VISIT, was a finalist in the Pittsburgh New Works Festival. Another one-act, RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT, was produced as part of the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival. Awards include a National Endowment for the Arts Grant, the Columbia-Doubleday Fellowship, Writers Guild of America/East Fellowship, and Millay Colony Residency. Richard is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Seaplane Pilot’s Association, and the BMI/Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop.