WRITER: My name is Annie Calhoun and I am a passionate writer and innovative educator! I hold an MFA in Acting from DePaul University’s Theatre School and I have almost completed my second MFA in Screenwriting! My writing is informed by my acting and improvising (completing iO, UCB and Second City's training programs where I performed regularly). I use my professional theatre experience to create characters with humor, and vulnerability who come to life for the stage, page and screen. I was recently published in Lewis University’s Windows magazine and won first place! @anniewritergirl, twitter & @giftimperfect, instagram.
My TEDx talk spring 2023 about arts integration!
EDUCATOR: I am currently an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Lewis University. I have taught as adjunct faculty with Adlerimprov in LA, and DePaul University and spent 15 years teaching in Chicago and LA public middle and high schools prior to my role at Lewis. I was a part of the founding faculty of the first ever public arts high school in Chicago 2009-’12 and 2017-’21, ChiArts (http://www.chiarts.org/). I also taught drama at Englewood STEM HS in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. I spent time in Los Angeles from 2012-’17 to help found KIPP Scholar Academy, a public charter middle school meeting the needs of city youth in South LA (http://www.kippla.org/scholar/). I was the reading intervention specialist and theatre director here and won a 10,000 classroom innovation grant. While in LA, I also taught theatre courses at The Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (http://www.lachsa.net/) , improv at AdlerImprov Studios and movement/Shakespeare at USC’s summer program. My favorite people and my greatest loves are my husband and three and five year olds :)
My middle grade students entrenched in "Wonder"...
WRITING FOR FILM/TV:
PARROTFISH (short film, production beginning 2023-2024)
FOUNDERS (hour pilot)
THE CROQUET’S DON’T DO A MUSICAL (feature, dramedy)
WRITING FOR MIDDLE GRADE:
TAPPING DOTS (manuscript)
CJ AND PUG (manuscript)
“Here I am again with tears in my eyes because I just finished your gorgeous, hilarious, KILLER of a book (CJ and PUG)...thank you for these amazing characters.”
WRITING FOR STAGE:
GIRLIE, SILVI, SEYMOUR, Musical (The Chicago High School for the Arts)
BECOMING (The LA County High School for the Arts)
A FRIDAY HABIT (AdlerImprov Studio, LA)
HALSTED STREET VALETS (A.C.T. Play finalist)
COUCH DATES; AN AMISH PLAY (DePaul Reading Spring Series)
IN THE BEGINNING (Red Orchid debut)
CARNIVAL Libretto (ChiArts Dance Co.)
AGES WITH 8 (Red Orchid short play series)
OREGON TRAIL THE MUSICAL (iO Chicago)
NUN MEMOIRS (Chautauqua Theatre Co. Caberet)
DULA (Chicago Dramatists Reading)
"CJ AND PUG"
“When CJ and Pug find clues that could lead them to CJ’s mother, this unlikely boy/girl duo risk stepping outside their South Los Angeles neighborhood on an adventure they never expected.
CJ AND PUG is a summer coming-of-age middle grade novel where resourcefulness, imagination, and grit shine through two hilarious kids the world could easily lump into another sad statistic about underserved youth in urban cities...but who are determined not to be.”
I have been teaching in inner city neighborhoods like CJ and Pug’s since receiving my MFA six years ago from DePaul University in Chicago, and I am thrilled to have created and finished a middle grade novel that has come out of these experiences.
What I've noticed as a teacher, is a lack of middle grade fiction that mirrors the daily lives and faces of my students. There are sensationalized stories within urban areas, but I wanted to write a humorous realistic adventure. CJ AND PUG fills this void. This book is for my students. I am a member of SCBWI and often speak at the Los Angeles chapter meetings on the integration of new Common Core educational standards into writing for youth.
ChiArts Theatre Students
“I am struck by her skill at crafting vivid characters with unique voices and idiosyncratic points for view. Her dialogue is fresh, surprising, and captures the beating hearts of her characters...As a gifted actress Ms. Calhoun brings an innate understanding of dramatic tension, character revelation and behavioral detail that is very compelling.”
KIPP Scholar: Teaching Common Core through chants!
Last year, my students and I won a 10,000 Innovation Grant!
ChiArts Acting for Dancers.
KIPP Scholar: States and capitals chant!
