About Sarah Duncan:
Sarah M. Duncan is a queer, femme, neurodivergent, white, cis, settler, playwright, poet, singer, scholar, educator, performer, and arts/community organizer. Duncan grew up in Normal, Illinois, in the heart of the Midwest. In 2009, she graduated Bradley University with a degree in Theatre Performance. After she graduated college, she spent a year working and traveling in New Zealand and a year working as an intern at The Playwright's Center in Minneapolis. In 2011, Duncan moved to New York City, where she lived for the next five years. Duncan has performed and had her work (plays, comedy, poetry) produced in a variety of venues, including Improv Boston, The Wild Project, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, The Cherry Lane Theatre, and The Gym at Judson. As an arts organizer in NYC, she curated and hosted many poetry shows around crucial themes, and she co-created and organized three theatre festivals under the foundational title, Occupy the Empty Space.
In 2016, Duncan left her beloved New York City to build a new home and community in Laramie, Wyoming, where she began her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Wyoming. There, she focused on multi-genre and hybrid creative work, archival & political art, and queer and critical race studies. She also focused on creative writing and visual projects surrounding whiteness: the construction of it, the violence and terrorism of it, and how to dismantle it. Additionally, Duncan participated in grassroots organizing movements in Laramie. She helped organize local racial, queer, and immigrant justice campaigns (in particular helping with the early organizing of the #WyoSayNo campaign). She graduated with her MFA in Creative Writing in May of 2018, and then relocated to Boston, where she entered a master's program in American Studies at UMass Boston (Conferred in 2020). Her final thesis, "This Feels Like Groundhog Day: Stuckness and the Cultural Work of 21st Century Televisual Time-Loop Plots," won the Michael Lenz Award for Nontraditional and Innovative Scholarship. Duncan is expanding this thesis into a book, while finalizing a few pieces for online publication.
During her MFA, Duncan was given the opportunity to teach composition to undergraduates at the University of Wyoming for two years. She'd loved teaching and mentoring high school students in NYC, but teaching in Wyoming convinced Duncan to pursue a career as an educator. At the end of her time working for the UW English Department, she was presented with the Slater Award for Excellence in Teaching. In the summer of before she left Wyoming in 2018, Duncan was honored to teach a very rewarding seminar course on spoken word poetry and arts activism as part of the Summer High School Institute at the University of Wyoming. Since then, Duncan has guest lectured at UMass Boston and Gann Academy on topics ranging from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Race" to "Disability Justice in the 1980s."
As of Fall 2020, Duncan is teaching remotely while working on creative projects (which includes her work of scholarship on time-loops in television and film in the 21st Century). She's honored and humbled to work as an instructor for Reconstruction.Us. Duncan's pedagogy is rooted in abolitionist (see Bettina Love's scholarship and book here) and liberation pedagogies in service to the Movement for Black Lives (check out and support Black Lives Matter at Schools). She is passionate about ending carceral practices and ideologies in schools (and beyond). Duncan recently began working on a master's program in education and school counseling at Goddard College in order to obtain licenses for both (expected 2022).
When she isn't working on her degree, Duncan is dedicated to creating and performing. In 2019, her chapbook entitled "Week/End" was published by Headmistress Press, and one of the poems was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her newest poetry can be found here at Sleet Magazine and Visitant Lit. Duncan also began performing stand-up comedy in Boston. Her last live show (before the pandemic) was performed at The Stand Up Jam at Improv Boston in September of 2019. Duncan also plays music in a small band, "Sidekick," with fellow scholar and musician, Rachel Ravina. (Bandcamp link and EP coming in 2021). In March of 2020, she was honored to perform an original musical theatre piece, "What's Wrong with Me?" by Kate Eberstadt for Taylor Steele's Burrowing Artists project.
Sarah M. Duncan is a queer, femme, neurodivergent, white, cis, settler, playwright, poet, singer, scholar, educator, performer, and arts/community organizer. Duncan grew up in Normal, Illinois, in the heart of the Midwest. In 2009, she graduated Bradley University with a degree in Theatre Performance. After she graduated college, she spent a year working and traveling in New Zealand and a year working as an intern at The Playwright's Center in Minneapolis. In 2011, Duncan moved to New York City, where she lived for the next five years. Duncan has performed and had her work (plays, comedy, poetry) produced in a variety of venues, including Improv Boston, The Wild Project, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, The Cherry Lane Theatre, and The Gym at Judson. As an arts organizer in NYC, she curated and hosted many poetry shows around crucial themes, and she co-created and organized three theatre festivals under the foundational title, Occupy the Empty Space.
In 2016, Duncan left her beloved New York City to build a new home and community in Laramie, Wyoming, where she began her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Wyoming. There, she focused on multi-genre and hybrid creative work, archival & political art, and queer and critical race studies. She also focused on creative writing and visual projects surrounding whiteness: the construction of it, the violence and terrorism of it, and how to dismantle it. Additionally, Duncan participated in grassroots organizing movements in Laramie. She helped organize local racial, queer, and immigrant justice campaigns (in particular helping with the early organizing of the #WyoSayNo campaign). She graduated with her MFA in Creative Writing in May of 2018, and then relocated to Boston, where she entered a master's program in American Studies at UMass Boston (Conferred in 2020). Her final thesis, "This Feels Like Groundhog Day: Stuckness and the Cultural Work of 21st Century Televisual Time-Loop Plots," won the Michael Lenz Award for Nontraditional and Innovative Scholarship. Duncan is expanding this thesis into a book, while finalizing a few pieces for online publication.
During her MFA, Duncan was given the opportunity to teach composition to undergraduates at the University of Wyoming for two years. She'd loved teaching and mentoring high school students in NYC, but teaching in Wyoming convinced Duncan to pursue a career as an educator. At the end of her time working for the UW English Department, she was presented with the Slater Award for Excellence in Teaching. In the summer of before she left Wyoming in 2018, Duncan was honored to teach a very rewarding seminar course on spoken word poetry and arts activism as part of the Summer High School Institute at the University of Wyoming. Since then, Duncan has guest lectured at UMass Boston and Gann Academy on topics ranging from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Race" to "Disability Justice in the 1980s."
As of Fall 2020, Duncan is teaching remotely while working on creative projects (which includes her work of scholarship on time-loops in television and film in the 21st Century). She's honored and humbled to work as an instructor for Reconstruction.Us. Duncan's pedagogy is rooted in abolitionist (see Bettina Love's scholarship and book here) and liberation pedagogies in service to the Movement for Black Lives (check out and support Black Lives Matter at Schools). She is passionate about ending carceral practices and ideologies in schools (and beyond). Duncan recently began working on a master's program in education and school counseling at Goddard College in order to obtain licenses for both (expected 2022).
When she isn't working on her degree, Duncan is dedicated to creating and performing. In 2019, her chapbook entitled "Week/End" was published by Headmistress Press, and one of the poems was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her newest poetry can be found here at Sleet Magazine and Visitant Lit. Duncan also began performing stand-up comedy in Boston. Her last live show (before the pandemic) was performed at The Stand Up Jam at Improv Boston in September of 2019. Duncan also plays music in a small band, "Sidekick," with fellow scholar and musician, Rachel Ravina. (Bandcamp link and EP coming in 2021). In March of 2020, she was honored to perform an original musical theatre piece, "What's Wrong with Me?" by Kate Eberstadt for Taylor Steele's Burrowing Artists project.
"Sarah Duncan's writing sees the forest for the trees. It gracefully, honestly, and with tactful nuance, attacks society's ills while offering a hearty dose of medicine, usually in the form of advising self-reflection, an open heart and open ears, and a willingness to be guided outside of one's comfort zone."
~Taylor Steele, award winning NYC Spoken Word Artist
“A brave look at vulnerability and sexuality, Bees and Lions by Sarah M. Duncan explores the consequences of challenging celebrity as it enjoys its New York City premiere. Duncan won a spot with Sanguine after competing against nearly 100 submissions in Sanguine’s Project Playwright this past January. Sanguine's Bees and Lions successfully pushes the limits of commercial theatre and takes the audience on a dark and interesting ride. A big congratulations to the Sanguine Theatre Company, Sarah M. Duncan (thank you for being brave), and the cast and crew.”
~ Elle T, Reviewer for Fistful of Words
“Sarah Duncan is a poet of distinction - an original, intuitive and insightful writer whose words are as stunning in their artistry as they are penetrating in their political will. An elegant voice on the page, on the stage, and in the streets, her cry for justice in the nation and in the world manifests itself dazzlingly in word and deed.”
~Kia Corthron, Acclaimed Playwright
“Sarah Duncan has been a steadfast coordinator since 2011. She has an unparalleled ability to network and outreach while, simultaneously, attending to the minutest details of event management. The combination of "people person" and thorough event manager makes her the perfect choice to bill, promote and execute any event.”
~Kate Foster, Musician and Creative Partner on Occupy the Empty Space
~Taylor Steele, award winning NYC Spoken Word Artist
“A brave look at vulnerability and sexuality, Bees and Lions by Sarah M. Duncan explores the consequences of challenging celebrity as it enjoys its New York City premiere. Duncan won a spot with Sanguine after competing against nearly 100 submissions in Sanguine’s Project Playwright this past January. Sanguine's Bees and Lions successfully pushes the limits of commercial theatre and takes the audience on a dark and interesting ride. A big congratulations to the Sanguine Theatre Company, Sarah M. Duncan (thank you for being brave), and the cast and crew.”
~ Elle T, Reviewer for Fistful of Words
“Sarah Duncan is a poet of distinction - an original, intuitive and insightful writer whose words are as stunning in their artistry as they are penetrating in their political will. An elegant voice on the page, on the stage, and in the streets, her cry for justice in the nation and in the world manifests itself dazzlingly in word and deed.”
~Kia Corthron, Acclaimed Playwright
“Sarah Duncan has been a steadfast coordinator since 2011. She has an unparalleled ability to network and outreach while, simultaneously, attending to the minutest details of event management. The combination of "people person" and thorough event manager makes her the perfect choice to bill, promote and execute any event.”
~Kate Foster, Musician and Creative Partner on Occupy the Empty Space
