Marisela Treviño Orta is an accidental playwright. She found her way to the genre while completing an MFA in Writing at the University of San Francisco (USF) where she studied poetry exclusively. During her time at USF, Marisela became the Resident Poet of El Teatro Jornalero!, a theatre company comprised of Latino immigrants who devised work inspired by social justice issues.

Marisela’s first play BRAIDED SORRROW won the 2006 Chicano/Latino Literary Prize in Drama, received its World Premiere in 2008 at Su Teatro in Denver, CO and won the 2009 PEN Center USA Literary Award in Drama.

Marisela’s other plays include: AMERICAN TRIAGE (Marin Theatre Company commission and Repertorio Español 2012 MetLife Nuestras Voces National Playwriting Runner-Up); HEART SHAPED NEBULA (2012 O’Neill Playwrights Conference Semi-Finalist, 2013 Aurora Theatre Global Age Project Finalist, and 2015 Shotgun Players world premiere); and WOMAN ON FIRE (2007 Latino Playwrights Initiative commission).

Marisela is an alumna of the Playwrights Foundation’s Resident Playwright Initiative and a founding member of the Bay Area Latino Theatre Artists Network (BALTAN). Currently Marisela is working on cycle of Latino fairy tale plays which include THE RIVER BRIDE (2013 National Latino Playwriting Award Co-Winner, 2016 Oregon Shakespeare Festival world premiere), WOLF AT THE DOOR, and ALCIRA.

Most recently, Marisela in currently in her third year at the Iowa Playwrights Workshop and will graduate in May of 2018.

Contact Marisela at: mariselaorta@gmail.com