J.R. Dawson

J.R. Dawson graduated from Stonecoast with an MFA in Creative Writing and DePaul University with a BFA in Playwriting and English Literature. She began her writing career as a playwright in Chicago, where her scripts were performed at Chicago Dramatists, ATC, and Wrights of Spring. Her one-act, A Speech for Thomas Hawkins, won her the Zach Helm Playwriting Scholarship in 2007. She has written short stories and a YA novel under another name, which culminated in a nomination for One Book, One Nebraska. She also contributed to the Steampunk Shakespeare anthology and was a panelist at ICFA where she spoke on alternate history in science fiction. When she's not writing, she works as an actress in the Omaha area and a teaching artist through the Omaha Theater Company and Nebraska Arts Council. Dawson is a regular contributor at The MFA Years.