Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Maria D. Smith is a fresh-faced writer whose essence is rooted in both comedy and intersectionality. Maria began her first pursuits as a storyteller when she attended undergrad at the University of Tennessee. While there, she served as a weekly columnist for the university paper and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Africana Studies. Having graduated with her MFA in writing for the stage and screen in 2022 from Northwestern University, Maria has had her work featured in the Theater Masters TAKE TEN MFA Festival, the Black Lives, Black Voices Festival, Copy Literary Magazine, and The Eitch by Hyphen Reads Books. In August 2022, she completed a writer’s residency at the Story 27 Production’s Writer’s Colony hosted by...
Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Maria D. Smith is a fresh-faced writer whose essence is rooted in both comedy and intersectionality. Maria began her first pursuits as a storyteller when she attended undergrad at the University of Tennessee. While there, she served as a weekly columnist for the university paper and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Africana Studies. Having graduated with her MFA in writing for the stage and screen in 2022 from Northwestern University, Maria has had her work featured in the Theater Masters TAKE TEN MFA Festival, the Black Lives, Black Voices Festival, Copy Literary Magazine, and The Eitch by Hyphen Reads Books. In August 2022, she completed a writer’s residency at the Story 27 Production’s Writer’s Colony hosted by television mogul Mara Brock Akil. In May 2023, Maria became Congo Square Theatre’s Samuel G. Roberson “Next Up” Fellowship Winner for the 2023/2024 season. Always a southern girl at heart, Maria is now located in Los Angeles, California, where she is pursuing storytelling full-time.