David-Matthew Barnes describes himself as "a playwright, poet, novelist, filmmaker, actor, dancer, cheerleader, choreographer, director, teacher and former model...for life." He is the author of the forthcoming young adult novel Mesmerized (2010; Bold Strokes Books) that explores the emotional aftershocks of a hate crime. He wrote and directed the feature film Frozen Stars, which received worldwide distribution. To date, he has written over forty stage plays that have been performed in three languages in eight countries.

David-Matthew's literary work has been featured in over one hundred publications including 60 Seconds To Shine, A&U: America’s AIDS Magazine, Audition Arsenal, The Best Stage Scenes, The Best Men's Stage Monologues, The Best Women's Stage Monologues, The California Quarterly, The Comstock Review, Men of Mystery: Homoerotic Tales of Intrigue and Suspense (Lambda Literary Award nominee), Rite of Passage: Tales of Backpacking ‘Round Europe, Small Town Gay: Essays on Family Life Beyond the Big City (Lambda Literary Award nominee), The SoMa Literary Review, Velvet Mafia, Young Women’s Monologues From Contemporary Plays  and more.

In 2008, David-Matthew won the World AIDS Day Writing Contest, earning double awards for poetry and playwriting, and the 2008 Slam Boston Award for Best Play. He received national awards in the 2008 Split This Rock Poetry Contest and the 2007 New Works for Young Women playwriting competition. In 2007, he also received the Carrie McCray Literary Award in recognition of his two-woman play Bracelets and Boyfriends. He has received two Elly Awards for Best Original Script from the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance and additional awards from Writer’s Digest and the Florida Freelance Writers Association.

David‐Matthew has directed theatrical productions of Eric Laneʹs Dancing On Checkersʹ Grave, John Patrick Shanleyʹs Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Cherie Vogelsteinʹs Date with a Stranger, Michel Tremblayʹs Les Belles‐Soeurs, Robert Harlingʹs Steel Magnolias, Patricia Joudryʹs Teach Me How To Cry and more.

As an actor, he has performed in over twenty‐ five theatrical productions including roles in Once a Catholic at the Julia Morgan Theatre in Berkeley, The Furthest Room at the Stella Adler Theatre in Los Angeles, Big Love at Penn State Altoona and at The Merriam Theatre in Philadelphia, in the west coast premiere of Sam Schwartz’s Vito on the Beach and most recently as Mark in Michael Cristofer's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning play The Shadow Box.

David-Matthew graduated magna cum laude from Oglethorpe University with a degree in communications and English. He received a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina. In 2007, David-Matthew was nationally selected to study his craft in private workshop with Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman (‘night, Mother, The Color Purple, The Secret Garden) at the Southampton Writers Conference in New York.

David-Matthew was the 2008 Emerging Writer in Residence at Penn State where he taught in the English program for one year. Today, he lives in Sacramento, California where he is the Visiting Artist for the 2009-2010 season at the Lambda Players theatre company. His current obsessions include reading Jennifer Weiner novels, drinking iced Chai tea lattes and watching classic films.

Read DMB's biography at Bold Strokes Books.

"I am a playwright, poet, novelist, filmmaker, actor, dancer, cheerleader, choreographer, director, teacher, and former model...for life."

David-Matthew Barnes
 

"In the Tennessee Williams flavored
Threnody, the dialogue sings
with poetic flashes."

The Sacramento News & Review

"Truthfully, my dream job is to write
for The Young and The Restless. My
life has often paralleled a soap opera,
so I figure why not put my experiences
to dramatic use..."

David-Matthew Barnes

"Frozen Stars is an ultra sincere
depiction of young people,
passionately performed..."

The Chicago Reader

"I'm nothing more than a satellite,
collecting words and stories
every place I go."

David-Matthew Barnes

"Pensacola is an eclectic collection
of Southerners in the tradition of
Tennessee Williams written by
up-and-coming phenom David-Matthew Barnes."

The Independent News

"My favorite quote is from Susan
Seidelman's film Smithereens...
I just want to be
in a swimming pool, eating
tacos and signing autographs."

David-Matthew Barnes

"David-Matthew Barnes'
award-winning plays speak
with emotional fervor. His
characters refuse to be ignored,
driving at the heart of the human
condition with their intense desire
and longing."

Word Riot Press