David-Matthew Barnes

David-Matthew Barnes

David-Matthew Barnes (born September 3, 1970) is an American novelist, playwright, poet, screenwriter, and television producer.

Barnes is the bestselling author of the novels Mesmerized (Bold Strokes Books, 2010), Accidents Never Happen (Bold Strokes Books, 2011), Swimming to Chicago (Bold Strokes Books, 2011), The Jetsetters (Bold Strokes Books, 2012), Ambrosia (Pindelion Publishing, 2012), Wonderland (Bold Strokes Books, 2013), Stronger Than This (Bold Strokes Books, 2014), Fifty Yards and Holding (Bold Strokes Books, 2015), Anything But Ordinary (2016), and The Marijuana Mermaids (2015). Two of his young adult novels, Swimming to Chicago and Wonderland, have been recognized by the American Library Association for their diversity.[1]

Barnes is the author of a collection of short stories titled Boys Like Me (2015), two collections of poetry, Souvenir Boys (Pindelion Publishing, 2013) and Roadside Attractions (2015), and several collections of stage plays, scenes, and monologues, including Monologues That Kick Ass (Pinwheel Plays, 2013).[1]

Barnes is the writer and director of the coming-of-age film Frozen Stars (starring Lana Parrilla of ABC's Once Upon a Time), which received worldwide distribution. He is the writer and director of the dramatic short film Threnody. He is the writer, creator, producer, and director of the independent teen television series Bloom.[2]

Barnes has written over forty stage plays that have been performed in three languages in eight countries, including And The Winner Is (Playscripts, Inc.), Are You All Right in There? (Playscripts, Inc.), Better Places to Go (Pinwheel Plays), Bracelets and Boyfriends (JAC Publishing), Clean (JAC Publishing), Don't Mention It (JAC Publishing), False Hopes (JAC Publishing), Frozen Stars (Pinwheel Plays), Johnny Ramirez Really Wants to Kiss Me (Pinwheel Plays), Pensacola (JAC Publishing), Sloe Gin Fizz (JAC Publishing), Somebody's Baby (Heuer Publishing), Temporary Heroes (Brooklyn Publishers), Threnody (Pinwheel Plays), and Unrequited (Brooklyn Publishers).

Barnes' stage plays have been official selections for the Chicago Director's Festival, the DC Queer Theatre Festival, FronteraFest, the Johannesburg One-Act Drama Festival, the Mid-America Dramatists Lab, the NYC 15-Minute Play Festival, the Rough Writers New Play Festival, and the Western Australia Drama Festival. His plays have been performed on stages across the country including the American Globe Theatre, the Boston Center for the Arts, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Hyde Park Theatre, and the Producer's Club in New York City. Internationally his plays have been produced in Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and more.[1]

Barnes' literary work has appeared in over one hundred publications including The Best Stage Scenes, The Best Women's Stage Monologues, The Best Men's Stage Monologues, The Comstock Review, Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts, Review Americana, and The Southeast Review. He has served as the guest editor of dramatic literature for The Louisville Review and has written book reviews for the Lambda Literary Foundation.[1]

Barnes was selected by Kent State University as the national winner of the Hart Crane Memorial Poetry Award. In addition, he has received the Carrie McCray Literary Award, the SlamBoston Award for Best Play, and earned double awards for poetry and playwriting in the World AIDS Day Writing Contest. He has received national awards in the Split This Rock Poetry Contest and the New Works for Young Women playwriting competition. He is the winner of two Elly Awards from the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance, an award from Writer’s Digest, and an award from the Florida Freelance Writers Association.[1]

Barnes is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America,[3] the Horror Writers Association, International Thriller Writers,[4] the Romance Writers of America, and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.[5]

He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing at Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina. He graduated magna cum laude from Oglethorpe University with a degree in Communications and English.

Barnes has been a teacher for nearly a decade, instructing college courses in writing, literature, and the arts. In 2008, he was nationally selected to serve as the Emerging Writer-in-Residence at Pennsylvania State University. From January 2009 until January 2015, he was a faculty member and online instructor at Southern Crescent Technical College in Griffin, Georgia, where he developed the curriculum for a first-ever Theatre Appreciation course, which received statewide approval from the Technical College System of Georgia for instruction in 25 colleges. He also served as the college's cheerleading coach and was the founding faculty advisor of the Performing and Literary Arts Student Association (PALASA). He has been a faculty member of the low-residency MFA in Writing Program at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky since 2012, where he instructs and mentors graduate students in Writing for Children and Young Adults, Playwriting, and Screenwriting. In January 2015, Barnes was named the new Program Director of the Theatre Arts and Dance Department at Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood, Colorado.[6]

He lives in Denver, Colorado with his partner, Edward C. Ortiz, the founding editor of 7 Word Review.

Filmography

Television

Writings

Novels

Short Stories

Poetry

Stage Plays

One-Act Plays

Stage Play Collections

Featured Work

Awards

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 http://dmbarnes.blogspot.com/p/david-matthew-barnes-biography.html
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1498491/?ref_=ttfc_fc_dr1
  3. ↑ https://www.dramatistsguild.com/memberdirectory/getmembership.aspx?cid=7395
  4. ↑ http://thrillerwriters.org/members/
  5. ↑ http://www.scbwi.org/members-public/david-matthew-barnes
  6. ↑ https://spalding.edu/academics/mfa-in-writing/mfa-faculty/
  7. ↑ "Welcome northernstate.net - Hostmonster.com". Northernstate.net. Retrieved 2013-12-04.

External links