Rebecca Nichloson (She/Her) is a Black, queer poet, fiction writer, singer/songwriter, playwright, theatre maker and Afro-bohemian. She is the author of numerous creative works, including Submerged (An Opera), Dear America (Libretto & vocals), Mara, Queen of the World (an acapella musical), The Wild, Bold Enlightenment of Velvet the Mistress, Cooking With Keisha (or Anatomy of Pie), and Jill, Jack & the Martian Lady; a play she created for a children’s educational workshop at the Minnesota Opera. Her fiction and performance pieces include Children of the First Hummingbird and Zar-Baby, among others. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting from Columbia University and an M.A. in English Literature. She was also the recipient of a Commission from the Cedar Cultural Center for which she created Multicolored Musings: Jewels of Love, Loss, & Triumph (a three-part collection of songs exploring her African and African American heritage and passion for genre eclectic music) and received a 2020 honorable mention from the McKnight Foundation (Spoken Word). In addition, she is the recipient of the Liberace Award, the Howard Stein Fellowship, The Matthew’s Fellowship, an America-in-Play Fellowship, and a Many Voices Fellowship from the Minneapolis Playwrights Center (2008-2009). Rebecca’s worked has been presented at Pangea World Theatre, Red Eye Theatre, Pillsbury House Theatre and others. She is the founder/artistic director of Cleveland-Harris Theatre Company (a theatre, performance, and public imagination project based in Minneapolis). Learn more at www.RebeccaNichloson.com.