Dean Poynor is an emerging playwright whose work explores the crossroads of religious calling and the daily grind.

His plays include: THE MORE BEYOND (developed with the Playwrights’ Center as a Core Member Apprentice, Kennedy Center, The Puzzle Festival NYC, The Drawing Board NYC, and Trustus Theatre; Semi-Finalist for the 2011 Princess Grace Award, Semi-Finalist for the 2012 O’Neill Theatre Conference), YOUNG NEGRESS STEPPING OUT OF THE RIVER AT DAWN (readings with the Dramatists’ Guild, and DC Black Theatre Festival; Great Plains Theatre Conference Main Stage selection) BELLHAMMER (developed at Carnegie Mellon University, Semi-Finalist for the 2011 O’Neill Theatre Conference), the full-length drama PARADISE KEY (Winner of the 2010 Trustus Theatre Playwrights' Festival, produced at Arena Players Repertory Theatre in NY, Trustus Theatre, and Hyde Park Theatre in Austin, TX, nominated for 3 B. Iden Payne Awards including Best Drama), the Zombie-thriller H. apocalyptus (produced with The Salvage