David-Matthew Barnes
 Agent: Monica Augustine
Atlanta, Georgia, United States Email: literarymanager@gmail.com
Home page: http://www.davidmatthewbarnes.com
DAVID-MATTHEW BARNES (born on September 3, 1970 in Torrance, California) is an American writer who has become prominently known for his provocative stage plays, fiction and poetry. Many critics have compared his theatrical work to that of Tennessee Williams. While Barnes has just started to experience commercial success, his work has already garnered a devoted following of readers.
Barnes is known for being a prolific writer as his work has been featured in nearly a hundred literary journals, magazines, anthologies and thematic collections including THE BEST STAGE SCENES OF 1999, THE BEST MEN’S STAGE MONOLOGUES OF 2000, THE BEST WOMEN’S STAGE MONOLOGUES OF 2002, THE CALIFORNIA QUARTERLY, THE COMSTOCK REVIEW, MEN OF MYSTERY: HOMOEROTIC TALES OF INTRIGUE AND SUSPENSE (Haworth Press), THE REDBRIDGE REVIEW, SMALL TOWN GAY: ESSAYS ON FAMILY LIFE BEYOND THE BIG CITY (Kerlak Publishing; Lambda Literary Award nominee), THE SOMA LITERARY REVIEW, SLOW TRAINS, UNLIKELY STORIES and VELVET MAFIA.
His first collection of poetry, SINS OF THE FLESH, was published in 2002 by Word Riot Press. He has written over forty stage plays that are available from Brooklyn Publishers, JAC Publishing and Playscripts, Inc. To date, David-Matthew’s stage plays have been performed in three languages in seven countries and have been featured at sixteen theatre festivals around the world. His signature plays include AND THE WINNER IS... (Playscripts), ARE YOU ALL RIGHT IN THERE? (Playscripts), BETTER PLACES TO GO (Elly Award Winner for Best Original Script), BRACELETS AND BOYFRIENDS, CLEAN (JAC Publishing), JOHNNY RAMIREZ REALLY WANTS TO KISS ME (Stage Thism Too!), PENSACOLA (JAC Publishing), SLOE GIN FIZZ and THRENODY, a critical favorite that many of his fans consider to be his masterpiece.
Barnes' most significant play to date is SKY LINES, an epic drama that was completed in the spring of 2006. Artistically inspired by the song JACKIE'S STRENGTH as recorded by Tori Amos (whom Barnes met on his birthday in 1992), the heartfelt play explores the lives of three women who live in a rundown apartment building in an unnamed American city. Over the course of 34 years, the women confront social and political issues as they fight to assert their identity and protect their friendship. SKY LINES has been lauded by readers for the challenging roles for women that the script offers given that each actress must play a role that spans over 30 years of time. Monologue excerpts from SKY LINES were performed at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta in August 2006 and are featured in the collection AUDITION ARSENAL FOR WOMEN IN THEIR 20's: 101 MONOLOGUES BY TYPE, 2 MINUTES and UNDER, as edited by Janet B. Milstein and published by Smith and Kraus. SKY LINES received national recoginition in the University of Tulsa's 2007 New Works for Young Women playwriting competition.
Barnes himself has directed theatrical productions of Eric Lane's DANCING ON CHECKERS' GRAVE, John Patrick Shanley's DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, Cherie Vogelstein's DATE WITH A STRANGER, Michel Tremblay's LES BELLES-SOEURS, Robert Harling's STEEL MAGNOLIAS and Patricia Joudry's TEACH ME HOW TO CRY.
Barnes wrote and directed the independent coming-of-age film FROZEN STARS (adapted from his stage play of the same title) that starred a then-unknown Lana Parrilla as a young woman named Lisa Vasquez. In the film, Lisa realizes that she is pregnant and is faced with a critical choice after being accepted into Harvard University. After the film was screened at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles, FROZEN STARS was distributed on DVD by Liberty International Entertainment in November 2003.
Barnes has credited Judy Blume, Lois Duncan, Norma Fox Mazer and Gillian Armstrong's film STARSTRUCK for having an impact on his writing while growing up. His other literary influences include Dorothy Allison, Jane Austen, Toni Cade Bambara, Rita Mae Brown, Sandra Cisneros, Fannie Flagg, Carolyn Forché, Beth Henley, Langston Hughes, Lynda Hull, Jamaica Kincaid, Dorianne Laux, Marsha Norman, Joyce Carol Oates, Dorothy Parker, Edith Wharton and Tennessee Williams. Recently, Barnes has started conducting scholarly research on French literature of the 17th century demonstrating a particular affinity for the works of Jean de La Fontaine, Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette and Molière. Theatrically, Barnes' work has been influenced by Commedia dell'arte.
Barnes is the eldest grandson of prominent Los Angeles businessman Clifford Nickle, who died in 2002. Barnes' mother, Nancy Nickle, owns the California-based record label Catz Go Round Records. Barnes' younger brother, acclaimed musician Jamin Barnes, owns the San Diego restaurant Kafè Yen. Barnes is of French Canadian, German and Native American ancestry. He is related to Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of War during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era, and actress Ann Paige who appeared in the films CHINA DOLL and THE YOUNG LIONS in 1958. Barnes' grandmother, Dorothy Helen Nickle, had a profound impact on his life by encouraging his creativity at a young age. After she died on Thanksgiving in 1997, Barnes named his theatre company The Dorothy Nickle Performing Arts Company in her honor.
Although Barnes grew up in Northern California he considers Chicago to be his hometown and has referred to it as "my favorite city in the U.S." Barnes often talks about his fondness for the country of Belgium and has said "I harbor a secret dream to live in Brussels one day. The city is magical and the people are poetry." Barnes is actually very well-traveled. He and a childhood friend backpacked through Europe in 1990 and spent time in seven countries. Barnes lived in a bamboo hut on the Greek island of Ios for nearly five months where he worked as a dishwasher during the day and a dancer at night.
As a teenager, Barnes attended the eclectic Berkeley High School and the Visual and Performing Arts Center at Sacramento High School. He published his first short story, an anti-nuclear war piece titled THE CHILDREN ARE CRYING, that appeared in the anthology ACROSS THE GENERATIONS when he was just fourteen. The following year, he was cast as a series regular on the Bay Area television show DANCE FLOOR, which he appeared on for a year. He received awards for Outstanding Student Director and Outstanding Achievement in Theatre at American River College, where he was also the captain of the cheerleading team, the president of the dramatic arts club and appeared in many stage productions including THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, TWELFTH NIGHT, Charles Gordone's NO PLACE TO BE SOMEBODY and the West Coast premiere of Samuel Schwartz's heartbreaking gay love story VITO ON THE BEACH. He then studied briefly at The Theatre School of DePaul University (including a master class with Faye Dunaway) and in the fiction writing department of Columbia College Chicago.
Barnes graduated magna cum laude with a degree in communications and English from Oglethorpe University, where he attended their evening degree program. There, he was the founding editor of THE NIGHT CAP newsletter and worked under the mentorship of Nancy Keita and Annie Hunt Burriss. In May 2008, Barnes will receive a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina. There he studied under the creative guidance of Cathy Smith Bowers, Sally Keith, Fred Leebron, Rebecca McClanahan, Brighde Mullins, Jenny Offill, Robert Polito, Patricia Powell, Claudia Rankine, Elissa Schappell and Elizabeth Stuckey-French.
For his work, Barnes has received additional awards from WRITER'S DIGEST MAGAZINE, the Florida State Writing Competition and the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance.
Barnes is a member of the Academy of American Poets, Alpha Chi, the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP), the Dramatists Guild of America, the Lambda Literary Foundation and the Theatre Communications Group.
As a teacher, Barnes has instructed acting, writing and dance classes to students of all ages since 1992.
Barnes is currently finishing his first novel, THE COMMON BOND (expected to be released in 2008), a chilling tale that explores the intertwined lives of lovers and killers. His other projects include three new stage plays: a powerful examination of female teen rebellion titled THE MARIJUANA MERMAIDS, the Southern-flavored female comedy THE BRAY OF THE BELLES and WHIRL, a character-driven drama that explores the ill-fated relationship between two young men: a nomadic carnival worker and a small town garage mechanic.
Since 2003, Barnes has lived in McDonough, Georgia where he owns a home with his partner of eight years, award-winning producer and accomplished photographer Nick Moreno. They are strong advocates for animal rights and are the parents of four cats and a Cairn Terrier, all rescued animals. In February 2002, Moreno and Barnes became legal guardians of Moreno's younger brother and sister, Ricardo Zuniga and Jessica Moreno. The family was featured in a recent issue of THE ADVOCATE.
For more information, visit Barnes' official website at www.davidmatthewbarnes.com
Interests: David-Matthew Barnes is an American writer who has become prominently known for his provocative stage plays, fiction and poetry.
Published writer: Yes
Freelance: Yes |
