Gwen Orel is features editor of the Montclair Local, and previously served as arts editor of The Montclair Times. She is an Outer Critics Circle member, and has won many journalism awards. Her short plays have appeared or are scheduled to appear at the ThinkFast Festival, the Grove Street Theater, Culture Connection Theater and the Montclair Arts Festival. In 2017 she attended the National Winter Playwrights Retreat in Creede, Colorado. She has a PhD in theatre, and, as literary manager of Alabama Shakespeare Festival, ran the Southern Writers’ Project. Gwen runs the site New York Irish Arts (newyorkirisharts.com), and is owned by Irish music and three cats.