Michael S. Parsons has been writing stories for as long as he can remember. He graduated from Kent State University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, but also studied creative writing under authors Zee Edgell and Henry Van Dyke. His political career was distinguished only by its resemblance to a train wreck, and mercifully did not last much longer than one. His experiences in politics and the private sector can sometimes be seen in his writing and themes, and have contributed to the development of his artistic voice.
Michael has written in several formats and genres. His short story "Walking Shadows", originally crafted while studying under Ms. Edgell, was a finalist for the 2000 Raymond Carver Short Story Contest and received honorable mention. A screenplay, Daybringer, co-written by Jeremy Sony, placed in the top 25 percent in the 2006 Expo Screenplay Competition and was a Quarterfinalist in the 2007 AAA Screenplay Contest / Teleplay Division. A first novel in 2003 promptly bankrupted the little micro-press that published it, leaving Michael with some very hard-won lessons about the business of writing. Rebounding, he took this knowledge and his usual tenacity and applied them to his future work, turning to a childhood love of his, the stage.
Learning the craft of playwriting from the ground up, Michael soon discovered that a playwright could not improve unless they saw their work on a stage. Without a venue that performed new works, Michael assisted in the creation of one. His play Take Two, a compilation of two thematically related one-act plays, was the inaugural workshop production of the Curtain Players Playwrights Festival in Galena, Ohio in 2003. The festival has since become an annual event, gaining notoriety in the central Ohio area, and Michael has returned to that festival twice more to debut new plays, making him the only three-time entrant for the festival. White Russian, a story about power and how it affects those who wield it, was work-shopped in 2006. His latest full-length play, Chasing Ozymandias, about living up to ones legacy, was workshop performed in 2008. It also received Honorable Mention at the 76th Annual Writer's Digest competition. Take Two and White Russian went on to be produced by other theater companies, and a component one-act of Take Two, entitled The Brass Ring, was performed by Curtain Players in the 2003 American Association of Community Theatres (AACT) Festival for the state of Ohio.
Seeking to take his writing to a new level, Michael has returned to school, and is attending the NEOMFA program for Creative Writing with a focus in playwriting at the Kent State University campus in Fall of 2008. There he will be studying under playwrights Mike Geither and Marya Bednarik.
While writing feverishly for Project 10, Michael is also serving as producer of the project and is busy laying groundwork for his next full-length play, which he hopes to have completed this fall. In his spare time (like he has any) he can be found acting or directing in central Ohio theaters, or playing softball on weekends. Michael is an Associate Member of the Dramatists Guild. As of August 2008, he will be residing in Kent, Ohio.
If you need a hi-res copy of Michael's headshot, please contact us. Headshot by Dale Bush Photography.
Visit the Library for more details on Michael's plays.
Read more about the other resident playwrights of Theatre Daedalus: