Ana Simo

A New Yorker most of her life, Ana Simo was born and raised in Cuba. Forced to leave the island during the political/homophobic witch-hunts of the late 1960s, she immigrated to France in time to witness the May 1968 revolt, study with Roland Barths, and participate in early women's and gay and lesbian rights groups. After moving once again, this time to New York, she became an English-language playwright, journalist and lesbian activist, co-founding Medusa's Revenge theatre, the direct-action group the Lesbian Avengers, the national cable program Dyke TV, and the groundbreaking online magazine The Gully, offering queer views on everything. Her New York Times-reviewed plays have been produced in such venues as PS 122, Theatre for the New City, INTAR Hispanic Arts Center, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. How To Kill Her, her short feature film with Ela Troyano, has been widely screened in festivals in the U.S. and abroad. A CD of her play The Opium War with music by Zeena Parkins was released by Roulette. Heartland is her first novel. She recently finished Tannhäuser's Dream, her second novel, and is currently writing a new one, titled Divine Light.