MFA Alum in Residence at Grinell:

Aaron Carter (MFA 2005) has been invited to be playwright in residence for a month at Grinnell College in Iowa next April. He'll be teaching a playwriting intensive and Grinnell will be reading and developing his latest new play.

OU Playwrights Grab Large Grants:

2nd year MFA playwrights Merri Biechler and Laura Jacqmin have been awarded Ohio University SEA grants in the amount of $6,000 each to support the research and writing of their thesis plays in their third year. In addition, Merri Biechler has also been awarded OU's Trisolini Fellowship in the amount of $13,000 for her third year of school. (Last year, current third year MFA Mark Witteveen was also awarded the SEA and Trisolini money; in the past two years, OU MFA playwrights have applied for and received over $45,000 in grant money to support the research and writing of their plays.)

Revival of Current MFA playwright's Off-Broadway play:

MY ITALY STORY, a play written by Joseph Gallo (first-year MFA playwright) will be opening in four days at the theatre "12 Miles West" in Bloomfield, New Jersey, on their 200-seat equity stage.
Web site: http://www.12mileswest.org

Happyslap at Victory Gardens:

2nd year MFA Laura Jacqmin's HAPPYSLAP recently received a reading at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, and will be presented as a staged reading in the 2006 Kitchen Dog Theater's New Works Festival.

OU Playwrights in Sketchbook:

2nd-year MFA playwright Laura Jacqmin's short play POOL OF and 2005 Alum Aaron Carter's KEGGER will be produced in Collaboraction's Sketchbook 6 Festival this August in Chicago at the Chopin Theatre.

Teaching Award:

2nd year MFA playwright Merri Biechler has been awarded OU's Graduate Associate Outstanding Teaching Award. Merri was in competition with GA's from across the university, and the award is given only to the top four GA lecturers based on both undergraduate student reviews of teaching style/ability as well as an interview process conducted by a student committee.

Suzan-Lori Parks visits OU MFA:

Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks conducted a seminar for MFA playwrightstoday. Ms Parks discussed her writing philosophy and her career as a playwright.