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Georgia born writer Shay Youngblood is author of the novels Black Girl in Paris and Soul Kiss (Riverhead Books) and a collection of short fiction, The Big Mama Stories (Firebrand Books). Her plays Amazing Grace, Shakin' the Mess Outta Misery and Talking Bones, (Dramatic Publishing Company), have been widely produced. Her other plays include Black Power Barbie and Communism Killed My Dog. She completed a radio play, Explain Me the Blues for WBGO Public Radio's Jazz Play Series, featuring Odetta and the music of Olu Dara. The recipient of numerous grants and awards including a Pushcart Prize for fiction, a Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award, an Edward Albee honoree, several NAACP Theater Awards, an Astraea Writers' Award for fiction and a 2004 New York Foundation for the Arts Sustained Achievement Award.
Ms. Youngblood graduated from Clark-Atlanta University and received her MFA in Creative Writing from Brown University. Her fiction, articles and essays have been published in Oprah magazine, Good Housekeeping, Black Book and Essence magazines among others. She has worked as a Peace Corp Volunteer in the Eastern Caribbean, an Au Pair, Artist's Model, and Poet's Helper in Paris and Creative Writing instructor in a Rhode Island Women's Prison. She is a board member of both Yaddo artists' colony and the Author's Guild. She has taught Creative Writing at NYU and was the 2002-03 John and Renee Grisham Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi. She is
currently Writer in Residence at Texas A&M University.
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PUBLICATIONS
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2000 |
Black Girl in Paris, novel, Riverhead Books
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1997 |
Soul Kiss, novel, Riverhead Books
editions in German, French and Portuguese
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1989 |
Big Mama Stories, short fiction, Firebrand Books
German edition
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1993 |
Shakin' The Mess Outta Misery,
Talking Bones & Amazing Grace (1998)
plays, Dramatic Publishing Company
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1983-present |
Articles, Short Stories, Poetry, Essays published in Essence, Oprah Magazine, Black Issues Book Review, Black Renaissance Noir, Good Housekeeping, Black Book Magazine and others
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TEACHING
2008-2010 Visiting Professor, Texas A&M University
Playwriting and Fiction Workshops
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2002-2003
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John & Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence,
University of Mississippi
Creative Writing Workshops
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2001-2002
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Visiting Professor, New York University, Graduate Program
in Creative Writing, Fiction Workshop
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1998 |
Lecturer, New School University, Eugene Lang College
Taught Undergraduates Creative Writing
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1995-1997 |
Cole Visiting Professor, Wheaton College
Taught undergraduates Black Women's Literature and
Creative Writing |
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1992-1993 |
Teaching Assistant/Instructor, Brown University
Taught undergraduates Beginning and Intermediate Playwriting
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1992 |
Playwriting Instructor, Rhode Island Prison Program
Adult Correctional Institution for Women
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1987-present |
Creative Writing Workshop Instructor and Lecturer
American University, Brown University, Boston College, Bronx Community College, Chicago Art Institute, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Emory University, New York University, Spelman College and others; Elementary and High Schools; National and Regional conferences; Museums, Senior Centers, Public Libraries and Art Programs.
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| THEATER
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1988-present
1998-present |
SHAKIN' THE MESS OUTTA MISERY, two act play
numerous regional productions
AMAZING GRACE, full length children's play
numerous regional productions
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1995 |
TALKING BONES, two act play
Horizon Theatre
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1994 |
Penumbra Theater Company, Full production
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1993 |
Crossroads Theater Company, Reading
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1992 |
Bay Area Playwrights' Festival, Staged Workshop |
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SQUARE BLUES, two act play
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1993 |
Theater Exchange & Bay Area Playwrights' Festival,
San Francisco, Showcase Production and Reading
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1992 |
Women's Project, Reading
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BLACK POWER BARBIE, two act play
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1995 |
Frontera Theater, Austin TX, Full production
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1993
1992 |
Brown University New Play Festival, Workshop
Seven Stages Theater Short, Short Play Festival, Production, Atlanta, GA
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FILM
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1992 |
SHAKIN' THE MESS OUTTA MISERY, Feature Film
Screenplay Adaptation, Writer
optioned by Sidney Poitier for Columbia Pictures
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FELLOWSHIPS & AWARDS
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2004-2005
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New York Foundation for the Arts, Sustained Achievement Award
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2002
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John and Renee Grisham Writer in Residence, Teaching Fellowship |
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1993
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Astraea Award for Fiction |
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1993 |
Kennedy Center's Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award
TALKING BONES
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1991 |
Hollywood NAACP Theater Awards
SHAKIN' THE MESS OUTTA MISERY, Received "Best" Playwright, Producer, Director and Supporting Actor
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1990 |
Pushcart Prize, BORN WITH RELIGION, Short Story
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1990 |
Mayor's Award for the Arts, City of Atlanta, Literature Prize
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1989 |
New York State Council on the Arts, Writing Residency
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1989 |
Susan Smith Blackburn Playwriting Prize, Finalist
SHAKIN' THE MESS OUTTA MISERY
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1989 |
Townsend Book Award, Nominee, BIG MAMA STORIES
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1989 |
Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Individual Artist Grant
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1988 |
Georgia Council on the Arts, Individual Artist Grant |
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1987 |
American Aid Society of Paris, Individual Artist Grant
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1987 and 1986 |
Money for Women Fund, Fannie Lou Hamer Award
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1984 - present |
ARTIST COLONY FELLOWSHIPS
Yaddo, MacDowell Colony, Karolyi Foundation of France, Blue Mountain Center, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and Hambidge Center for the Arts
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Art Exhibitions
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2004
2009 |
Writers Who Paint, Theater for the New City, New York, NY
"Open Book, Enter Slowly", Ise Gallery
Center for African American Studies
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX
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Education
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1991-1993 |
Brown University, Providence, RI
M.F. A. Creative Writing
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1979-1981 |
Clark-Atlanta University , Atlanta, GA
B.A. Mass Communications
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Organizations
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Author's Guild, Council Member
Yaddo Artist's Colony, Board Member
Dramatists Guild
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