Katie Hae Leo is a

Korean American Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian Americans ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, poet, essayist and creative nonfiction writer. Her writing has been published in Water~Stone Review, Asian American Poetry & Writing, Kartika Review, 60 Seconds to Shine: One-minute Monologues for Men, MN Women's Press, and

Utne Reader ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne'') ( ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...

. Her stage work includes Four Destinies, first produced by Mu Performing Arts, and N/A, a solo piece the debuted at Asian Arts Initiative in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and was remounted at Dreamland Arts in Saint Paul. The themes in her work involve place, identity, and her experience as a transracial Korean adoptee. Her influences include

Suzan-Lori Parks Suzan-Lori Parks (born May 10, 1963) is an American playwright, screenwriter, musician and novelist. Her 2001 play ''Topdog/Underdog'' won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002; Parks was the first African-American woman to receive the award for d ...

Young Jean Lee Young Jean Lee is an American playwright, director, and filmmaker. She was the Artistic Director of Young Jean Lee's Theater Company, a not-for-profit theater company dedicated to producing her work. She has written and directed ten shows for Yo ...

, and

Kristina Wong Kristina Wong () is an American comedienne known primarily for her work as a solo theater performer, performance artist, and actor. She identifies as a feminist and her work often tackles themes regarding race, sex, and privilege, often in conjun ...

. Leo's awards include the Academy of American Poets' James Wright Prize and the Gesell Award for nonfiction. Her work has twice been nominated for a

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

. She has received funds from the MN State Arts Board, the Blacklock Foundation, and the Arizona Commission on the Arts. She has taught at

St. Catherine University St. Catherine University (St. Kate's) is a private Catholic university in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was established as one of the first institutions of higher learning specifically for women in the Midwest and was known as the College of St. C ...

and

Minneapolis Community & Technical College Minneapolis Community and Technical College (Minneapolis College) is a public community college in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It has one of the most diverse student populations in the state and enrolls nearly 11,100 credit students annually. Minneap ...

. She received an M.F.A. in creative writing from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leo, Katie Hae Living people American dramatists and playwrights University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni People from Bucheon Year of birth missing (living people)