Michele Merens is a writer and playwright whose fiction has been published in dozens of literary and commercial magazines and anthologies. Her novel, Inside Our Days, will be published in 2020 by Muriel Press, Marian University. She has also worked as an op-ed columnist and arts reviewer for various newspapers, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Michele was a winner of the 2020 Nuit de Philosophy (Night of Philosophy) Op-ed Contest, judged by New York Times editors and the Brooklyn Public Library. She is a Puffin grant recipient for her dramatic work and was named a Barnard College Senior Scholar in Creative Writing.
Michele has also written numerous full-length and short plays, many of which have been published in anthologies or received readings across the nation. A DVD copy of her full-length play The Lion’s Den is currently archived at the Wisconsin Veteran’s Museum, Madison, WI.
She has been named a semi-finalist for her full-length dramatic works by the Princess Grace Playwrighting Competition, the Mildred and Alfred Panowski Playwrighting Competition, the Firehouse New America Players Festival, NuVoices Emerging Playwright’s Competition and a finalist in the Hidden River Arts Playwrighting Competition.
Michele holds a BA in English from Barnard College, NY and a MSJ in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.