Karen Hartman was the first-ever playwright honored by Amplify (formerly Volt), an unprecedented festival of three simultaneous off-Broadway premieres by a single author: NEW GOLDEN AGE (Primary Stages, Susan Smith Blackburn Finalist); THE LUCKY STAR (The Directors Company); and GOLDIE, MAX & MILK (MBL Productions, shortlisted for the 2025 LAMBDA Literary Award). The musical RATTLESNAKE KATE, book by Hartman, score by Neyla Pekarek, won eight Henry Awards including Best New Play or Musical. Some of Hartman’s many works include: PROJECT DAWN (NNPN Rolling World Premiere, NEA Art Works Grant, optioned and developed for Population Media Television), GOOD FAITH: FOUR CHATS ABOUT RACE AND THE NEW HAVEN FIRE DEPARTMENT (Yale Repertory Theater), ROZ AND RAY (McKnight Fellowship, Edgerton New Play...
Karen Hartman was the first-ever playwright honored by Amplify (formerly Volt), an unprecedented festival of three simultaneous off-Broadway premieres by a single author: NEW GOLDEN AGE (Primary Stages, Susan Smith Blackburn Finalist); THE LUCKY STAR (The Directors Company); and GOLDIE, MAX & MILK (MBL Productions, shortlisted for the 2025 LAMBDA Literary Award). The musical RATTLESNAKE KATE, book by Hartman, score by Neyla Pekarek, won eight Henry Awards including Best New Play or Musical. Some of Hartman’s many works include: PROJECT DAWN (NNPN Rolling World Premiere, NEA Art Works Grant, optioned and developed for Population Media Television), GOOD FAITH: FOUR CHATS ABOUT RACE AND THE NEW HAVEN FIRE DEPARTMENT (Yale Repertory Theater), ROZ AND RAY (McKnight Fellowship, Edgerton New Play Prize, Kilroy’s List, feature film in development with August Point Productions), LEAH'S TRAIN (National Asian American Theater Company, Weissberger Award Finalist), GIRL UNDER GRAIN (Best Drama in NY Fringe), and GUM. A Guggenheim Fellow, Hartman’s work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation at Bellagio, Princeton’s Hodder Fellowship, the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, MacDowell Colony, New Dramatists, the Helen Merrill Foundation, Hedgebrook, the Playwrights Center, a Fulbright Scholarship, and more. Hartman’s plays are published by Concord Theatricals (Samuel French), as well as Theater Communications Group. Current and recent projects include ALICE BLISS in the 2025 NAMT Festival of New Musicals (music: Jenny Giering, lyrics: Adam Gwon, Weston-Ghostlight New Musical Award), IN THE MOOD, a musical with swing standards directed by Tony winner Kenny Leon, and a film adaptation for August Point Productions of her award-winning play. Hartman founded and leads THE HUNDRED DAY RECKONING, A CREATIVE RESPONSE TO HARD CHANGE. www.karenhartman.org, the100dayreckoning.substack.com