shay Youngblood

Shay Youngblood is author of thenovels Black Girl in Paris and Soul Kiss (Riverhead Books) and two collections of shortfiction. Her published plays Amazing Grace, Shakin' the Mess Outta Misery and Talking Bones, (Dramatic Publishing Company), have been widelyproduced. Her other plays include SquareBlues, Black Power Barbie and Communism Killed My Dog. She is therecipient of numerous grants and awards including a Pushcart Prize for fiction,a Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award, an Edward Albee honoree, several NAACPTheater Awards, an Astraea Writers' Award for fiction and a New York Foundationfor the Arts, Sustained Achievement Award. Her short stories have beenperformed at Symphony Space and recorded for National Public Radio's Selected Shorts. Ms. Youngblood receivedher MFA in Creative Writing from Brown University and has taught creativewriting to faculty and graduate students at NYU and has been a Visiting Writer atnumerous colleges and universities. Youngblood was the first Writer inResidence at the Dallas Museum of Art and was awarded a National Endowment forthe Arts sponsored Japan/U.S. Creative Artists Fellowship for 2011-2012 toresearch Japanese architecture and culture. She currently works as a careeradvisor for creatives.

"My interest in architecture has been fueled by my travels. Ihave lived on the East Coast, in the Deep South, Hawaii, France, Spain and theCaribbean, traveled to Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Sweden and Denmark andonce took a three month road trip across the United States.

As achild I grew up in several households in the same community. Moving from houseto house almost daily was fluid in many ways. There were physical and invisibleboundaries. The transient nature of home allowed me to adapt to differentlifestyles. I was very portable. My few possessions could be moved quickly.Today when I enter a new home, the guest room of a friend, a hotel room or anartist colony residence, any temporary home, I am transformed. The rooms of mymemory are imprinted on me and each room I enter becomes a space filled withpossibility. ”