E.M. Lewis is the spring 2022 writer-in-residence at Fishtrap.

ENTERPRISE — Fishtrap brings the art of playwriting and theater to Wallowa County this spring by inviting playwright E.M. (Ellen) Lewis as the spring 2022 writer-in-residence.

Lewis is an award-winning dramatist, teacher and opera librettist. As part of Fishtrap’s Writer-in-Residence program, Lewis will be in local schools, teaching students about the craft of playwriting. During her five weeks in the county, she will be a guest at the April 1 Fishtrap Fireside, lead an adult playwriting workshop on April 16, and give a public reading of one of her recent plays with actors from Wallowa County’s MidValley Theatre Company.

“We look for a special combination of both creative and teaching experience when we offer a writer the opportunity to spend time with our community as a Fishtrap Writer-in-Residence,” said Fishtrap Executive Director Shannon McNerney. “Ellen provides those skills in spades, along with an understanding of life in rural Oregon. We couldn’t be happier to have her join us this spring.”

Fishtrap’s Writer-in-Residence program invites experienced writers and educators to spend four to six weeks in Wallowa County and includes a stipend, travel allowance and lodging.

During their time here, the Writer-in-Residence devotes up to eight hours a week teaching in Wallowa County schools, leads an adult writing workshop and gives a public reading.

The program also provides a writer an opportunity to write, explore and enjoy Wallowa County.

Schools interested in participating can contact McNerney at shannon@fishtrap.org or 541-426-3623.

More on E.M. LewisLewis’ work has been produced around the world. She received the Steinberg Award for “How the Light Gets In” and “Song of Extinction,” and the Primus Prize for Heads from the American Theater Critics Association, the Ted Schmitt Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, a Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, a playwriting fellowship from New Jersey State Arts Commission, the 2016 Oregon Literary Fellowship in Drama and an Edgerton Award for Magellanica.

Other plays include “Apple Season” (National New Play Network rolling world premiere), “The Gun Show” (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), “Infinite Black Suitcase,” “True Story,” “Apple Hunters!,” “Dorothy’s Dictionary” (winner of the Portland Civic Theater Guild New Play Award), and “You Can See All the Stars” (Kennedy Center commission for the American College Theater Festival).

Operas include “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant” with composer Evan Meier (American Lyric Theater), and “Town Hall” with composer Theo Popov (Maryland Opera Studio and Willamette University).

Lewis is currently enjoying a three-year Mellon Foundation National Playwright Residency at Artists Repertory Theater (ART). She is a member of LineStorm Playwrights, ASCAP, and the Dramatists Guild. She lives in the Willamette Valley on her family’s farm. For more information, visit www.emlewisplaywright.com.

For more information about Fishtrap programs, visit fishtrap.org.