Jewelle Gomez
Playwright
Jewelle Gomez (Cabo Verdean/Wampanoag/Ioway) is originally from Boston, MA, where she received her BA from Northeastern University. She then lived in New York City and received her MS from Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She's lived in California's Bay Area since 1993 with her life partner, Dr. Diane Sabin. She's the author of 8 books including poetry, essays and her Black Lesbian vampyre novel, The Gilda Stories, which has been in print for more than 30 years. She's the winner of two Lambda Literary Awards, an NEA Fellowship and two California Arts Council Fellowships. She's also the recipient of two Lambda Literary Awards, a Legacy Award from the Horror Writers of America and a Media Award from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
Highlights
In addition to her fiction, non-fiction and poetry publications, Jewelle Gomez was commission to write a play based on her novel by the Urban Bush Women Dance Company. The resultant, full-length theatre piece entitled 'Bones & Ash: A Gilda Story' toured 13 US cities (1996-97). She was Writer-in-Residence at New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC) in San Francisco(2011-2021) where she was commissioned to write three plays. The plays: 'Waiting for Giovanni' about an imagined moment of indecision in the life of James Baldwin; 'Leaving the Blues' about legendary singer Alberta Hunter; and 'Unpacking in P'town' a comedy about the lives of retired Vaudeville performers, were each produced by NCTC as well as the TOSOS Company at the Flea Theatre in NYC.
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