Virginia Grise (born June 27, 1976, in Ft. Gordon, Georgia) is a playwright, and director. Grise's most recognized work is ''blu'' (

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

), the winner of the 2010 Yale Drama Series Award and a finalist for the

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

' Latino/a Playwrighting Award. In addition, Grise is the co-writer of ''The Panza Monologues'' (University of Texas Press) with Irma Mayorga, and edited a volume of Zapatista communiqués called ''Conversations with Don Durito'' (Atonomedia Press). She is also a recipient of the

Whiting Writers' Award The Whiting Award is an American award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and plays. The award is sponsored by the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation Mrs. (American English) or Mrs (British English; standard ...

and the

Princess Grace Award The Princess Grace Foundation – USA is a charity organization named after Princess Grace of Monaco, which supports emerging performers in theater, dance, and film in the form of awards, grants, scholarships, and fellowships. The Foundation hol ...

in Theater Directing.

Early life and education

Grise grew up in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. Her father, Ronald Grise is from

Goshen, Indiana Goshen ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. It is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka ...

and her mother, Emma Lesi Grise (née Yee) is from

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

, Mexico. Her maternal grandfather Manuel Yee was from

Canton, China Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kong ...

. In 1998 Grise received her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in History and Spanish with a minor in Chicano Studies from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. Grise also studied

critical pedagogy Critical pedagogy is a philosophy of education and social movement that developed and applied concepts from critical theory and related traditions to the field of education and the study of culture. It insists that issues of social justice and de ...

and second

language acquisition Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language (in other words, gain the ability to be aware of language and to understand it), as well as to produce and use words and sentences to ...

at the University of Texas and also earned her teaching certificate to teach English and Spanish as a secondary language. Grise has more than 15 years of teaching experience. In 2009, she received her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Writing for Performance from

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

. Her play ''blu'', was developed at Cal Arts as her MFA thesis project under the mentorship of

Carl Hancock Rux Carl Hancock Rux () is an American poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, recording artist, journalist, curator and conceptual installation artist working in text, dance, ritualized performance, audio, video, and photography. Described in the NY T ...

. Grise at the time was living in

Boyle Heights Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include: Disambiguation *Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...

and said, "every time I saw or heard helicopters I wrote a poem." These poems eventually transformed into the play ''blu'', which is about a Chicano family (raised by two queer women) that tries to envision a life and sky free of police and helicopters. Themes in ''blu'' are prison, war, state violence and desire.

Career

While teaching in Austin, Texas, Grise coordinated a series of writing workshop at the Travis County Juvenile Detention Center and Austin High School with La Peña Cultural Arts Center and Resistencia Bookstore. At the request of one of the students in the program, Grise read her first poem publicly at the juvenile detention center and later went on to study writing with Bridgforth. In addition to working with Bridgforth, Grise was a member of the Austin Project produced by Omi Osun and Joni Jones from 2003 to 2006. As a member of The Austin Project, she was introduced to experimental artists such as

Erik Ehn Erik Ehn is an American playwright and director known for proposing the Regional Alternative Theatre movement. The former dean of theater at CalArts, the California Institute of Arts, he is the former head of playwriting and professor of theatre ...

Robbie McCauley Robbie Doris McCauley (July 14, 1942 – May 20, 2021) was an American playwright, director, performer, and professor. McCauley is best known for her plays ''Sugar'' and ''Sally's Rape,'' among other works that addressed racism in the United St ...

Laurie Carlos Laurie Dorothea Carlos (née Smith; January 25, 1949 – December 29, 2016) was an American actress and avant-garde performance artist, playwright and theater director. She was also known for her work mentoring emerging artists in the theater. ...

Daniel Alexander Jones Daniel Alexander Jones (born 1970) is an American performance artist, playwright, director, essayist and educator. Birth Jones was born on February 9, 1970, to Georgina Leslie Jones and Arthur Leroy Jones at Wesson Women's Hospital in Springfiel ...

and

. Grise has also been a guest lecturer and held writing workshops. In 2012, Grise served as a Visiting Writer in the Department of English and Literature at

Pitzer College Pitzer College is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. One of the Claremont Colleges, the college has a curricular emphasis on the social sciences, behavioral sciences, international programs, and media studies. Pitzer is k ...

in Claremont, CA. She has been invited to share her works at universities including

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, to name a few

Activism

Grise began activism as a teenager as being part of the Brady Greene Teen Advisory Board, where she taught sexuality education classes in local high schools. She was also a founding member of Acción Zapatista, an organization in Austin, Texas, committed to spreading history of the

Zapatistas (Mexican Revolution) The Liberation Army of the South ( es, Ejército Libertador del Sur, ELS) was a guerrilla force led for most of its existence by Emiliano Zapata that took part in the Mexican Revolution from 1911 to 1920. During that time, the Zapatistas fough ...

, and other pro-Democracy movements in Mexico. As a member of Acción Zapatista, Grise served as an international peace observer in

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...

, Mexico and organized protests, community forums, and attended the Intercontinental Encuentro Against Neo-Liberalism. Grise was also a writing, directing, performing and founding member of Teatro Callejero, at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center in San Antonio, Texas. The street theatre created performances around important issues affecting the city of Austin such as

environmental racism Environmental racism or ecological apartheid is a form of institutional racism leading to landfills, incinerators, and hazardous waste disposal being disproportionally placed in communities of colour. Internationally, it is also associated with ...

and

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...

. And as a middle school teacher at Kazen Middle School in San Antonio, Texas, Grise was an organizing member of Books in Barrio, a

grassroots organization A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

that successfully launched a campaign to locate a bookstore in a predominantly Mexican and working class community on the South Side of San Antonio. Currently, she works with

prison abolition The prison abolition movement is a network of groups and activists that seek to reduce or eliminate prisons and the prison system, and replace them with systems of rehabilitation that do not place a focus on punishment and government institutiona ...

ists and community organizations that are teaching inside women's prisons.

Awards and honors

* National New Play Network Commission, 2015 * Finalist,

American Studies Association The American Studies Association (ASA) is a scholarly organization founded in 1951. It is the oldest scholarly organization devoted to the interdisciplinary study of U.S. culture and history. The ASA works to promote meaningful dialogue about t ...

's Gloria Anzaldua Prize for Independent Scholars, 2015 *

, 2013 * Loft Literary Center Spoken Word Immersion Fellowship, 2013 * Women's Project Theater's Playwrights Lab, 2012 *

Pregones Theater The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater is a theater company based at the 47th Street Theater in New York City. It was founded as El Nuevo Círculo Dramatico (The New Drama Circuit) by Míriam Colón and Roberto Rodríguez. It was one of the first Pu ...

's Asuncion Queer Playwriting Award, 2011 * Yale Drama Series Award, 2010 *

Princess Grace Foundation The Princess Grace Foundation – USA is a charity organization named after Princess Grace of Monaco, which supports emerging performers in theater, dance, and film in the form of awards, grants, scholarships, and fellowships. The Foundation hol ...

's Pierre Cardin Theater Award in Directing, 2010 * Finalist, LARK's Playwrights of New York (PONY) Award, 2010 * Finalist, Princess Grace Foundation's Playwriting Award, 2010 * Contemporary Arts Month Award, San Antonio, Texas, 2010 * Playwrights Center's Jerome Fellowship, 2009 * Finalist,

Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) is a national theatre program dedicated to the improvement of collegiate theatre in the United States. Focused on the celebration of diverse and exciting theatre, KCACTF involves student ...

, Latino/a Playwriting Award, 2009 * Artist in Residence, ALLGO, Austin, Texas, 2004 * National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, Teaching Spanish to Native Speakers, 1999 * National Association for Chicana/o Studies Student Premio, 1994

Works

Books

# ''The Panza Monologues, Second Edition'' (2014) # ''blu'' (2011) # ''Conversations with Don Durito: The Story of Durito and the Defeat of Neo-Liberalism'' (Editor, 2005) # ''The Panza Monologies'' (2004)

Anthologies

# ''Monologues for Latino/a Actors'' (Contributor, 2014) # ''Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academics and the Austin Project'' (Contributor, 2010) # ''Gender on the Borderlands, Frontier: Journal of Women Studies'' (Contributor, 2004) # ''Voices for Racial Justice'' (Contributor, 2004)

Plays

# ''Siempre Norteada: Always Late, Always Lost'' (2014) # ''Making Myth'' (2013-Whiting Award) # ''blu'' (2010-Yale Drama Series Award) # ''rasgos asiaticos'' (2011-Asuncion Queer Playwrighting Award) # ''The Mexican as Told by Us Mexicans'' (2012-Collaborative project with playwright Ricardo A. Bracho) # ''behind barbed wire'' (2009-Commissioned by the Community Arts Partnership) # ''a farm for meme''

Performance installations/ Site-specific work

# ''flesh and bone, and from the Earth's body: how do you pull your own sadness up from the ground?'' (Commissioned by Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival, in collaboration with Rafa Esperanza and Joe Jimenez) # ''Barrio Stories'' (Commissioned by Borderlands Theater, in collaboration with Elaine Romero and Martin Zimmerman) # ''ponme la mano aqui'' # ''i was born here'' # ''Remember el Alma'' (Commissioned by Bihl Haus Arts) # ''Teatro Callejero'' (founding member)

Dance theater

# ''would i then be...'' (Commissioned by Nugent Dance) # ''Passions'' (Commissioned by Nugent Dance) # ''held by dreams'' (Commissioned by Nugent Dance)

Short plays

# ''Teatro Organico'' (2014) # ''Right to Remain'' (2014) # ''Call to Prayer'' (2014) # ''ESL'' (2014) # ''Sha-Hell-No'' (2014) # ''Death sounds like...'' (2014) # ''corn does not grow in the museum'' (2013) # ''woman in the walnut creek turned butterfly'' (2013) # ''flower offering for lil girls who ride buses'' (2013)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* De León, Jennifer Ponce. "Que Onda? with Virginia Grise." ''HowlRound''. N.p., 19 Nov. 2015. Web. 07 Dec. 2015. * Grise, Virginia. "Blu Fundraising Video." ''Vimeo''. N.p., 2011. Web. 29 Nov. 2015. * "Teaching & Workshops - Virginia Grise." ''Virginia Grise''. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015. * Vertiz, Vickie. "Rasgos Asiaticos: Theatre, Family and Virginia Grise." ''Sweet Beans and Rice Investigating a ChinoLatino Future''. N.p., 21 Aug. 2011. Web. 29 Nov. 2015. * "Virginia Grise." ''Princess Grace Foundation-USA''. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015. * "Virginia Grise-About." ''Virginia Grise''. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015. * "Virginia Grise." E-mail interview. 29 Nov. 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Grise, Virginia 1976 births Living people 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights American women dramatists and playwrights University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni California Institute of the Arts alumni 21st-century American women writers Hispanic and Latino American dramatists and playwrights American writers of Mexican descent