A truly thrilling part of my life has been creating a safe space for writers to explore their talent, grapple with craft, take risks, find their wild voices, play and laugh, face the world’s darkness and absurdity as well as its love, write compelling narratives and also push the limits of what theatre and film can do. I have a fervent belief in writers, in their humanity and compassion, and have enjoyed guiding writers from fledgling students into professionally produced authors.
Writers are in the business of making meaning out of experience. Right now, given the profound issues facing our world, this meaning-making business is more important than ever. I believe we writers are called to make work that people laugh and cry over, that maybe even touches souls, and that maybe even holds up a vision of a better future for all of us.
Wendy Hammond’s plays (Julie Johnson, Absence, Suzy Psychopath, Jersey City, Family Life: 3 Brutal Comedies, etc.) have been produced at Second Stage, HERE, Soho Rep, Long Wharf, Actors Theatre of Louisville, People’s Light & Theatre, Charlotte Rep and many other U.S. theatres. Her work has also been seen internationally in cities such as London, Berlin, Milan, Singapore, and Melbourne, and has earned a Drama League Award, a McKnight Fellowship, a NEA Grant, a NYFA Grant, and a Nomination by the American Theatre Critics Association for Best New American Play. Her screenplays include Julie Johnson which premiered in the Sundance Film Festival and played in film festivals all over the world winning many awards including Best Feature in the Barcelona Film Festival and an Audience Award in Berlin.
Wendy holds MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU, an M.Div. from Yale, and an MFA in Memoir from Hunter College. She has taught playwriting and screenwriting at the University of Michigan, Brown, the New School for Drama, TischAsia School of the Arts in Singapore, NYU in New York, and Brooklyn College. Currently she is working on a memoir, Back When I Was Crazy, about her struggle to overcome the violence and its aftermath of her devout Mormon family.