Email: niklouis at yahoo.com
Creative Writing
Education
2002-2008 PhD (Creative Writing), Department of English, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
1999-2001 MFA in Creative Writing, Department of English, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
1997-98 Low Residency MFA Program (Fiction), Vermont College, Montpelier, VT
Publications
2008 “Hidden Idaho,” Inkwell, Fall issue
2006 “Most Dangerous Women” (playscript, co-written with Jan Maher). In Maher, Jan: Most Dangerous Women: Bringing History to Life through Readers’ Theater, Heinemann Publishing
2002 “Good-bye Gorilla,” Indiana Review; nominated for 2003 Pushcart Prize
2000 “Glory,” Rosebud; winner, Imaginative Fiction Contest, selected by Ursula LeGuin
Awards, Fellowships, Scholarships, Honors
2010 Accepted to Hedgebrook Writers Residency (to take place May-June)
2008 Fellowship and Residency, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM (May through July)
2007 Marion Bashinski Award: Excellence in Teaching First Year Composition, Florida State University
2007 Dissertation Research Grant, Florida State University
July 2005 Scholarship, Vermont College Post-graduate Writers Conference
2004-05 Kingsbury Fellowship, Department of English, Florida State University
2004 Outstanding Teacher Award, Florida State University
2002-03 Fellowship in Fiction, Seattle Arts Commission
Apr 2002 Frances Shaw Fellowship, Ragdale Foundation (residency)
May 2002 Fellowship, Mary Anderson Center for the Arts, Mt. St. Francis, Indiana (residency)
June 2001 Nominated, Best New American Voices: 1) University of Washington Creative Writing Program; 2) Wesleyan Writers Conference
June 2001 Joan and John Jakobson Scholarship, Wesleyan Writers Conference, Middletown, CT
July 2001 David Guterson Fiction Award, University of Washington
Aug 2001 Archie D. and Bertha H. Walker Foundation Scholarship, Fine Arts Work Center Writers Conference, Provincetown, MA
Oct 2001 Willard R. Espy Literary Foundation Fellowship (residency)
Nov 2001 Island Institute Resident Fellows Program, Sitka, Alaska
1997-98 Seattle Arts Commission Fellowship, Creative Non-fiction
Teaching
2008-2009 Instructor, Creative Writing and Asian American Literature; Department of English, University of New Mexico
2002-2007 Teaching assistant, Department of English, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL Fiction Technique; Literature: Short Story; First Year and Second Year Composition; Tutor, Reading and Writing Center
Nov 2001 Island Institute, Sitka, AK (Memoir workshop)
1998-2003 University of Washington Women’s Center (Creative writing, Reader’s Theater, Acting)
1998-2004 Co-founder and coordinator, Women Who Write Too Much (literary performance group)
1985-2000 Artist-in-residence, Seattle and Washington State schools
Editing, transcribing, manuscript preparation
2005-present Editor, theses and dissertations of Florida State University graduate students
2002-2007 Editorial consultant for graduate students of Florida State University
2002-2003 Associate fiction editor, Southeast Review; transcribed manuscript of From Where You Dream by Robert Olen Butler, edited and introduced by Janet Burroway
1999-2001 Reader, Seattle Review
1999-2002 Prepared and edited ms. of Wounded Monster: Hitler’s Path from Trauma to Malevolence by Theo. L. Dorpat, M.D.
1999 Co-author, An Arts-Based Curriculum Guide on the Japanese American Experience
Readings, presentations, related activities
FSU: Co-host, Warehouse Reading Series, Spring 2003; Warehouse Reading series, Oct 2005, Aug 2003; Bryan Hall: readings 2005, 2006 and slide/lecture 2003, 2004
Other: Writing by Degrees Conference, Binghamton University, NY, Sept 2005, Oct 2004; Founder/director, Lit-erary Potluck reading series, U. Wash. Women’s Center 2000-2002; Founder/director, Sunday Showcases, monthly performance series, Univ. Wash. 1998-2000; Seattle Arts Commission Fellowship readings, June 2003, Oct 1999; Mary Anderson Center for the Arts, May 2002; Island Institute Fellowship reading, Sitka AK, Nov 2001; MFA graduation reading, Henry Art Gallery, June 2001; Castallia Reading Series, Univ. Wash. 2000-2001
Theatre
Commissioned Plays and Professional Productions
Feb 98 Keepers of the Dream
- Commissioned by the Group Theatre, Seattle
- Director: Jacqueline Moscou 1998-2000: Touring adaptation: Colleges and communities locally and regionally
Nov 93 Issei, The First Generation
- Commissioned by Bainbridge Island Performing Arts, Bainbridge Island, WA
- Director: Judy Nihei
Nov 91-Jan 92 I Dream a World
- Commissioned by the Museum of History & Industry (an adaptation of the book, I Dream a World: Black Women Who Changed America)
- Director: J. Moscou Aug 92: Adapted for television under the title, Keepers of the Dream, Spotlight Series, PBS/KCTS
1992-2000: Touring adaptation: Colleges and communities locally and regionally
Sept 1990 Most Dangerous Women (co-author)
- Musical collage of the international women’s peace movement. Commissioned by the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom; performed in The Museum of History & Industry Auditorium
- Director: Jan Maher 1991-1998: Touring adaptation: Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore Colleges, PA; Concord College, Athens, WV; San Jose State University, San Jose, CA; National Conference of Social Studies Teachers, Chicago, IL and Cincinnati, OH; community colleges and communities
Sept-Nov 90 Gold! Gold! Gold: Living the Turn of the Century
- A musical play on the Alaskan Gold Rush. Commissioned by the Museum of History and Industry for performance in the 1880’s Gallery
- Director: Nikki Nojima Louis. Apr-June 91: Touring adaptation: Seattle Public Library Centennial Celebration
- Seattle and King County Middle Schools and High Schools
May-Nov 89 Our Mothers’ Stories
- Group Theatre, Seattle (Main stage production and regional tour, 1989)
- A multicultural play, with music, on early women of Washington State
- Special Commission from the Washington Centennial Commission
- Director: Jacqueline Moscou 1991-99: Touring adaptation: Colleges and community centers locally and regionally
Jan 1988 Changing Faces
- Group Theatre, Seattle
- Director: Tim Bond
Feb 1987 Breaking the Silence
- NW Asian American Theatre
- Japanese American oral history play
- Director: John Mifsud. 1988-2000: Touring adaptation
- Oberlin College, OH
- Portland, OR; Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, Olympia, WA
- Director: Nikki Nojima Louis
Aug 1985 Made in America
- Pioneer Square Theatre New Works Festival
- Director: Craig Latrell
May 1985 Breaking the Silence: Japanese Voices in America
- HUB Auditorium, University of Washington
- Staged reading, sponsors: Japanese American Citizens League, American Friends Service Committee and American Civil Liberties Union
- Director: John Mifsud
Grants and Honors
2004, 2007 Civil Liberties Public Education Fund Grant (tour of Washington State schools)
1985-present Project support from National Endowment for the Arts; Civil Liberty Public Education Fund; Washington, King County, Seattle Arts Commissions; PIPE (Partners in Public Education); Washington, Pennsylvania, W. Virginia Humanities Commissions, Jane Addams Peace Fund
1988 “Special Commissioned Work,” Washington State Arts Commission Centennial Program (for 1989 Washington
Centennial Celebration)
1985 $5,000 Artist Trust Fellowship in Theatre
Honors: Inclusion in: Washington Originals, a book on Washington women artists, 1990; Strength and Diversity: Japanese American Women 1885-1990, Burke Museum, Seattle, WA, Sept-Dec 1994; Contemporary Minority Women Playwrights, S. Bennett, J.T. Peterson, eds, Greenwood Press, 1995; Who’s Who in the West, 1995; The World Who’s Who of Women, 1997
Literary Performances
1993-2001 Women Who Write Too Much, performances: Lives in Progress: staged readings for Jane Doe Theater Festival; Sou’wester Lodge; North Seattle Community College; Seattle Fringe Theatre Festival; Voices from the Fringe
1994-1999 Shirley Temple of the Concentration Camp, Jane Doe Theater Winter Solstice Festival
1994-1997 I Am Furious Yellow (with Mitsu Sundvall): Bumbershoot; North Seattle CC
1995 Shirley Temple at the Alamo (with Laura Esparza): Seattle Fringe Theatre Festival
Affiliations:
Women Who Write Too Much – workshops and performances, Univ. Wash. Women’s Center, 1993-2002
Local Access, an arts-in-education collective, program director, 1990-2000
Seattle Playwrights Alliance, 1994-1998
Fertile Ground: Alliance of Asian American Artists, 1993-1997
Association for Asian American Performance, 1992-1997
Washington Alliance for Arts Education, 1992-present (Board of Directors, 1993-1995)
Board of Directors, Winifred Ward Memorial Fund, 1992-2000
Delegation member, Seattle/Soviet Theatre Artists, 1989
Playwrights-in-Progress, founder; newsletter editor, 1986-88
Northwest Playwrights Guild, 1986-present (Steering Committee 1986-88)
Seattle Children’s Theater, Board of Directors, 1982-85
Ajudication/Dramaturgy:
Seattle Arts Commission, Individual Artists Fellowships – 1997
Regional High School Talent Search, Bon Marche, sponsor – 1995
Washington State High School Drama Competition – 1994
King County Arts Commission – 1993, 1997
Wisconsin Arts Board – 1992
Washington Arts Commission, Arts Organization Panel – 1991, 1992
Bumbershoot Arts Festival Panel – 1992
New City Theatre Directors Festival – 1991, 1990
Seattle Arts Commission, Arts Organization Peer Review Panel – 1990
King County Arts Commission, Individual Artists Grants – 1990
New City Theatre Playwrights Festival – 1988, 1989, 1990
Columbia Theatre, Portland, Oregon – 1989
Group Theatre Multicultural Playwrights Festival – 1987, 1989, 1992
Artist Trust GAP Grant Panel – 1988
Oregon Playwrights Guild – 1988
Washington State Arts Commission Artist-in-Residence Program – 1987
Teaching/Workshops/Residencies
- University of Washington: ESL, Drama, Asian American literature (1998-present)
- Seattle Labor Temple Oral History Project (July ‘99)
- North Seattle Community College/Local Access • Internment (English Composition, Ruth Brinton)
(Oct ’94); Oral history (Women’s Program, Susan Starbuckp) (Dec ’94) - University of Washington Academic Programs • Internment (Teacher training, B. McKean) (July ’94)
- North Seattle Community College • Internment (English Composition, Ruth Brinton)(Jan-Feb ’94)
- Seattle Central Community College/Local Access • Life Stories workshop (Jan ’94)
- King County Arts Commission/Washington Alliance for Arts Education Multicultural Arts Project
(Residencies in King County schools K-12) (Feb-Apr ’94) - Playwriting, Seattle Children’s Theatre (Feb-Mar ’94)
- Meany Middle School/Seattle Repertory Theatre (Jan ’94)
- “Breaking the Silence” presentation. North Seattle Community College literature class Ruth Brinton (Nov ’93)
- Nova Alternative High School: Feb-June 93: “Inhabiting History: The US & Vietnam”; Sept 1991-Feb 1992:
“Inhabiting History: The Japanese American Experience” - Seattle Repertory Theatre/Meany Middle School: Mar 93: Teachers In-service Training workshop; May 93:
Themes from August Wilson’s Piano Lesson; Nov 92: Improvisational techniques and writing on themes from
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar; June 92: Oral History & Heritage - Group Theatre – Oct 92: Create study guide and design teacher training workshops for touring program of the play,
Freedom Song, Tacoma and Seattle - Seattle Repertory Theatre/Seattle Children’s Theatre • Aug 92: Playwright in Residence, Seattle Center Summer Academy,
Themes from Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story - Viewlands Elementary • Apr 1992: “From Page to Stage – Story Theatre”
- Concord College, Athens, West Virginia • Mar 1992: “Creating Readers’ Theatre from Life Stories”
- Franklin High School/Seattle Group Theatre • Mar 91-June 92: Playwriting Project
- Seattle Rep Outreach Program • Feb-June 92: Rainier Beach High School ; Meany Middle School
- Home Teaching Program, various sites • Jan 92: Oral history workshops
- Museum of History & Industry/Local Access • Jan 92: Oral history workshops
- The Little School/Local Access • Jan 92: Oral history workshop
- Holden Village, Chelan, WA • Sept 91: “Sharing Stories”: Oral history/biographical writing
Lectures/Presentations
Mar 04 “Breaking the Silence,” Rain Forest Theater, Forks, WA
Dec 03 “Women of Internment,” Seattle Central Community College
Feb 96 Moderator, post-play discussion of “I Dream a World”: Central Washington University, Ellensburg
May 94 Multicultural Literacy Panel: Edmonds Community College
May 94 “I Am Furious Yellow”: Reading, UW Asian/Pacific American Students, Ethnic Cultural Center
May 94 “Breaking the Silence” and other readings: Asian/Pacific Week, Seattle Public Library
Mar 94 “After Long Silence” (reading series). North Seattle Community College
Sept 93 Presenter, “Bringing the multicultural edge to theater education.” Alliance for Arts in Education,
UW campus, Seattle
May 93 Panelist, “Living on the Edge.” American Association of Theater Critics, Seattle
Jan 92 Panelist/producer, performance program, Human Rights Day. US West, Seattle
Jan 92 Speaker, “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Asian American Community.” First Methodist Church, Seattle
Aug 91 Panelist, “Unbroken Threads: Voices of Asian American Women on the American Stage.” Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference, Seattle
Mar 91 Washington State Rainbow Coalition, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Seattle ; Tales from Our Mothers’ Stories” • Women Making History Conference, (Heritage Resource Center, Washington State Capitol Museum), Bellevue CC; “International Women’s Day with Three Women of Vision” • Women’s Center, Highline Community College
Oct 90 Speaker, “The Winds of Change” • Museum of History & Industry Docents meeting
Oct 90 Speaker, “The Multicultural Artist: A Personal Perspective” • Pacific Northwest Arts Presenters’ Luncheon, Center for Wooden Boats, Seattle
Mar 89 “Tribute to Tomo” • Women’s History Conference, Convention Center, Seattle
