About

 Kristin (K.D.) Carlson

Brief Bio:

Kristin Carlson is a poet, playwright, screenwriter, and essayist with recent work appearing in The Asheville Poetry Review, Shark Reef Literary Magazine, and Writer’s Digest Magazine.  A 2015 Dramatists Guild WriteChange scholarship recipient, she serves as a teaching artist with the Voices program.

Her plays have been selected for the Playwrights Showcase of the Western Region and performed in venues including:  The Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, CO, The Oracle Theatre in Chicago, Vintage Theatre in Denver, CO,Thunder River Theatre in Carbondale, CO, the Black Box Theatre in Aspen, CO, the New Space Theatre at Colorado Mountain College, and the Pease River Playhouse in Quanah, TX.  Her short play, “The Interview,” was a semi-finalist in the 2012 Minnesota Shorts competition. Carlson's latest work secured a spot at the national AACTFest in 2013, where it secured four awards for "Best Ensemble."

Carlson is a Phi Beta Kappa, Bronze Tablet graduate of the University of Illinois and holds a Master of Arts in Performance Studies from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  She is currently an instructor at Colorado Mountain College and an artist in residence for the state of Colorado.

Full-Length Plays:

“Unmarried in America” — selected for a staged reading at Colorado Mountain College, September 2011. Awarded a performance during Aspen Gay Ski Week at the Wheeler Opera House, January 2012. Won “People’s Choice Award” at the statewide CCTC festival in Salida, CO, September 2012. Won the regional AACT festival in April 2013. Advanced to national AACT festival at the Tarkington Center in Carmel, Indiana. Showcased at the Denver Center Academy in 2014. Enjoyed a full run at Vintage Theatre in Aurora, CO, Summer 2015.

“Eudora’s Box” — awarded best new play by the Thunder River Theatre Company reading series, summer of 2010. Produced at Thunder River Theatre in Carbondale, CO in 2012.

“Physics for Poets” — awarded the Carbondale Council on the Arts and Humanities new play prize, 2005. Performed at Colorado Mountain College, Aspen Black Box, and Pease River Playhouse in Quanah, TX, 2006.

“The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” — produced at Colorado Mountain College Black Box in partnership with Colorado Mountain College and Defiance Players, 2001.

Short Plays:

“The IQ Test” —featured at the Playwrights Showcase of the Western Region, held at the Arvada Center in Arvada, CO, 2005.

“The Job Interview” —featured at The Playwrights Showcase of the Western Region, held at Curious Theatre, Denver, CO, 2007. Selected for the Chicago Snapshots Festival, (hosted by 20% Theatre Chicago) and named a semi-finalist in the Minnesota Shorts Competition, 2012.

“Americus Most Wanted” — performed at the Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts, 2003.

Select Literary and Non-Fiction Credits:


Parent's Choice award-winning eBook/App "The Storybook Adventure," 2015.

Screenplay of "Unmarried in America" in development with AEC Studios, 2015.

The Barn Keeper’s Son, a first novel, under representation by Robert Guinsler at Sterling Lord Literistic, 2012.

“Piano Forte,” a short story, published in the Shark Reef Literary Journal, January, 2011.

“Dashboard Mary” and other poems, selected for performance at the Karen Chamberlain Poetry Festival, Carbondale, CO, 2010.

“The Sarcophagus,” a short story, selected for the Aspen Writers Foundation Story Swap, 2010.

“The Hennepin Canal Boys” published in The Asheville Poetry Review, 2009.

“The Corn Poems,” selected by the Aspen Writers Foundation for presentation at Town Center Books, Basalt, CO, 2009.

“Multi-Tasking Mama,” a non-fiction article, published in Writer’s Digest Magazine October, 2007

Editing Credits:

Edited “Creative Awakenings,” by artist and writer Sheri Gaynor, 2008.

Edited “The Skin You’re In,” by Natalie Carracarte, 2008.

Edited the award-winning Mountain Parent Magazine 2006-2008