Meet the 2017-18 Many Voices Fellows and Mentee

Please help us welcome 2017-18 Many Voices Fellows Stacey Rose and Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay and Many Voices Mentee Julia Gay.

The Many Voices program, which was created in 1994 and significantly expanded in 2013, will see another increase in funding from the Jerome Foundation for the incoming fellows, from $12,500 to $18,000, plus $2,000 in play development funds.

The Many Voices Fellowship is for early-career writers of color. The fellows receive dedicated support from Many Voices Coordinator Christina Ham and introductions to theater leaders in the Twin Cities and Chicago. One fellow each year must be Minnesota-based, and both writers spend a year-long residency in Minnesota. Previous recipients include Sharif Abu-Hamdeh, Benjamin Benne, Marisa Carr, Cristina Castro, Janaki Ranpura, Harrison David Rivers, James Anthony Tyler and Josh Wilder. The Playwrights’ Center’s 2017-18 Many Voices Fellows are:

• Stacey Rose, a theater artist from Elizabeth, New Jersey, who has presented work at The Fire This Time Festival, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and others. Rose earned an MFA in Dramatic Writing at NYU where she was honored with The Goldberg Prize for her play “The Danger.”
• Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, a Minnesota-based writer whose work is focused on creating tools and spaces for the amplification of refugee voices, and whose award-winning play Kung Fu Zombies Vs. Cannibals premiered with Mu Performing Arts in 2013.

The Many Voices Mentorship awards a Minnesota-based beginning playwright of color with individually-curated writing and play development services and a $2,000 stipend. The Playwrights’ Center’s 2017-18 Many Voices Mentee is Julia Gay, a writer, performer and dancer who was part of the Transatlantic Love Affair ensemble who devised Promise Land (Guthrie Theater, January 2017) and whose one-woman show motherlanded premiered in 2016 in Pangea World Theater’s Emerging Artist Series.

(See also: 2017-18 Jerome Fellows announcement)

STACEY ROSE

Stacey Rose is a theater artist from Elizabeth, NJ by way of Charlotte, NC. She earned a B.A. in Theatre from UNC Charlotte and an M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing at NYU where she was honored with The Goldberg Prize for her play “The Danger.” Stacey has presented work at The Fire This Time Festival, The Bushwick Starr Reading Series, Mosaic Theater and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. She was a 2015-16 Dramatist Guild Fellow and served as writers assistant and script coordinator for “She's Gotta Have It,” The Series. Stacey’s work celebrates and explores Blackness, Black identity, Black history, and the dilemma of life as the “other.” www.staceytherose.com

SAYMOUKDA DUANGPHOUXAY VONGSAY

Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay is a Lao American poet and playwright. Her theater work has been presented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, Mu Performing Arts, Consortium of Asian American Theater Artists, and Theater Unbound. She is a Playwrights’ Center Many Voices fellow, a Mu Performing Arts New Performance fellow, a Loft Literary Center Spoken Word Immersion fellow, a VERVE Grant for Spoken Word Poets recipient, and an Aspen Ideas Bush Foundation scholar. www.SaymoukdaTheRefugenius.com

JULIA GAY

Julia Gay is a Minneapolis based writer and performer. She received her B.A. from Macalester College, studying American Studies, Urban Studies, and Theatre. Julia is a dancer with professional dance company Ananya Dance Theatre, and was one of five artists awarded the 2016-2017 Creative Changemakers Apprenticeship by The DIAL Group. She was a collaborator and ensemble member with physical theatre ensemble Transatlantic Love Affair on Promise Land, a devised work that premiered at the Guthrie Theater in January 2017. In May 2016, as part of Pangea World Theater's Emerging Artist Series, Julia premiered her one-woman show motherlanded, exploring her personal narrative as a Chinese adoptee. juliagay.com

Update, April 27, 2017: Diane Exavier was previously announced as a recipient of the 2017-18 Many Voices Fellowship. Since then, Diane had an exciting opportunity arise that prevents her from becoming a fellow with us.