While Romulus Linney is the author of three well-received novels, perhaps he is best known for his many plays staged throughout the United States and abroad, which include The Sorrows of Frederick, Holy Ghosts, Childe Byron, Heathen Valley, "2," and Gint, an adaptation of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt. Six of his one-acts have appeared in Best Short Plays. Included in Best Plays of the Year, 1978-1988, his adaptation of his novel Heathen Valley won the National Critics Award; "2" won the same award during the 1989-90 season, when it was produced for the Humana Festival at the Actors Theatre of Louisville. A recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial and Rockefeller Foundations, he has also received a 1984 Award in Literature and the 1999 Award of Merit Medal for Drama from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, of which he is a member, as well as two Obie Awards—one in 1980, the other in 1992 for Sustained Excellence in Playwriting. Signature Theatre devoted its 1991-1992 season to producing five of his plays, of which he directed four. He has written for film and television, and his short fiction has appeared in many journals. He teaches playwriting at the New School University.  

Photo by Miriam Berkley