Joanna H. Kraus is an award-winning playwright of twenty published and widely produced scripts throughout the United States, Canada, England, Belgium, Germany, Israel, Guam, and Australia, and an author of numerous short stories, children’s books, articles and reviews.

She’s been a reviewer and columnist for Common Sense Media and Downeast Coastal Press and for two decades reviewed children’s books for the East Bay News Group. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, the California Writers Club, and the Southern California Writers Association.

Joanna holds an Ed.D. from Columbia University, an M.A. from the University of California Los Angeles and a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College. She is Professor Emerita of Theatre and former Graduate Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Arts for Children program, State University of New York Brockport. She currently resides in Orange County, California.

Kraus conducts workshops and residencies in playwriting, and drama and the curriculum and brings to these her knowledge, experience and expertise in these areas. She also helps teachers, students and seniors appreciate and expand their own creativity, develop their communication skills, enhance their understanding of themselves and others and guides them in gathering insights on controversial issues.

Biography

For more, read Anna Olswanger’s interview No Elephants in the Second Act: A Conversation with Playwright Joanna Kraus.

© 2014-2023 Joanna H. Kraus. All rights reserved.

PROGRAMS AVAILABLE

WORKSHOPS

Workshop Related to a Specific Topic or an Individual Play

SPEECHES

How Does It Happen? From 

   • Page to Stage or Idea to Publication

   • Is it True?  Researching and Writing Biographies and Historical Fiction

   • Talk Back—Q&A after the show (Moderator required)

Also:

   • Playwright-in-Residence Programs

   • Plays to commemorate specific and significant historic events (by commission)

   • Play manuscript critique services

REPRESENTATIVE WORK

Commissions:

   • Collins Drama, London, England

   • Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington

   • Raleigh Little Theatre and the North Carolina Museum of History

   • The Honor of Humanity Project under the direction of

     National-Louis University in affiliation with the Avenue of the Righteous

Workshops, Speeches and Presentations:

   • Writing From Your Life, Lafayette Rotary Club, Lafayette, California

   • Hidden Treasures AATE Conference, Boston, Massachusetts

   • Playwright Slam and A Play Rises from a Picture Book with John Newman, AATE, Minneapolis, Minnesota

   • New Play Project, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

   • Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

   • New York University, New York, New York

   • Central School, Glencoe, Illinois

   • Rock Creek Elementary School, Rocklin, California

   • Centennial Elementary School, Bakersfield, California

Residencies:

   • Humboldt State University, Arcata, California

   • University of Texas, Austin

   • William G. Enloe High School, Raleigh, North Carolina

Professional Artists’ Colonies:

   • Leighton Studios, Banff Centre for the Arts, Alberta, Canada (Scholarship)

   • Millay Colony, Austerlitz and Albany, New York (ESIPA Award)

   • YADDO, Saratoga Springs, New York

Awards:

   • Old Miner Children’s Playwriting Contest Winner

   • First Place Winner, Beverly Hills Theatre Guild, Marilyn

     Hall Awards for Youth Theatre, Secrets (formerly, The Big Lie)

   • First Place Winner, Focus on Writers, Children’s Fiction,
     Remember My Name and Walk on Water

   • Winner, Unpublished Play Reading Project, Sunday Gold, American
     Alliance for Theatre and Education (AETE)

   • Distinguished Play Award, Secondary, Angel in the Night, AETE

   • Special Achievement Award, New York State Theatre Education Association

   • Winner, American Voices, New Play Reading Series, For The Glory. GeVa

   • First Prize Winner, IUPUI, Remember My Name

   • Creative Artists Public Service Fellowship, New York State Council on the
     Arts and National Endowment for the Arts

   • Charlotte B. Chorpenning Cup for Achievement in Playwriting, AETE

Listings in:

   • Contemporary Authors, Twentieth Century Children’s Writers, Who’s Who in America

Hello and welcome!

Please browse my website and click on the various sections above, and see below for my latest books and plays.

New Work

New Play: Me2

When 8th graders, Madison and Emily accidentally meet, they discover that they’re identical twins, separated at birth. But there’s one major difference. Emily is an honors math student. Madison is barely passing and she pressures Emily to take an important test for her.

The 45-minute script toured several Utah classrooms, Spring 2017.

For further information, contact Leicester Bay Theatricals.

TAMALES & ROSES

When a flower girls gets stage fright and can't start the wedding procession, she’s convinced no one will forgive her. But her Hispanic family demonstrates their understanding and unceasing love. The 30-minute bi-lingual participation play, adds music and dancing and is geared to a K-2 audience. It premiered at the Utah Valley University and toured area schools in 2018. For further information, contact Leicester Bay Theatricals.

OH, LITTLE HAM OF BUFFALO a Korean adoption memoir (Mirror Publishing) 

Can  a starving Korean boy find a new life in the home of strangers ten thousand miles away?

The memoir written by mother and son, in narrative and free verse accompanied by photographs, describes the challenges, difficulties and joys encountered en route to adoption. Our story is gleaned from our son’s recollections and my own memories of the journey we traveled to become a family.

An intergenerational book geared to readers ages nine up and any adoptive family.

Oh, Little Ham of Buffalo is a brutally honest and insightful memoir of Joanna, Ted, and Tim’s journey to become a family. It’s a must read for adoption professionals and parents who want to adopt an older child from a foreign country.”

—Midwest book Review

“An inspiring memoir. A very readable combination of the factual and the poetic. This book should be compulsory reading in elementary schools, and maybe in secondary schools too!  Not only does it recount the history of the progress of young Tim’s adoption, it is also a valuable encouragement towards tolerance.”

—David Wood, playwright—the UK’s ‘National Children’s Dramatist’ (TV Times), ‘undisputed master of children’s theatre’ (Evening Standard), ‘Master of children’s shows’ (Daily Telegraph)

Available at websites: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Book Depository, Walmart, or order through your favorite bookstore.

Joanna Kraus was interviewed about Oh, Little Ham of Buffalo on a television program called “Storytelling in September.”

THE BLUE JEAN REBELLION (Leicester Bay Books)

Can a young boy defy the strict regulations of his Mormon community?
Eleven-year old Gideon detests the homespun trousers that all boys wear. As soon as he sees his first pair of jeans he breaks rules to obtain them. When they are confiscated, he’s crushed.
However, the other boys devise a clever way for all of them to get new pants.
So, blue jeans and change both come to Orderville.
This early-reader chapter-book is inspired by a little-known anecdote in Latter-day Saint history.

Available at: Amazon, Leicester Bay Books, or order through your favorite bookstore. Kindle version also available.

Scripts electronically reprinted by Leicester Bay Theatricals (formerly from New Plays) include:

Kimchi Kid and The Dragon Hammer and the Tale of Oniroku. Also, LBT has electronically published For the Glory. For more information, see the scripts page.

Champion. A winner of the 2021 Old Miner Children’s Playwriting contest, the play was inspired by the true story of an athlete who was bullied and then achieved international acclaim.

Can 12-year-old Robin do something amazing and make her family proud? 

When she joins a water-polo club she’s unprepared for the hostility she encounters. 

But with determination plus rigorous training, she becomes a skilled goalie, confronts a vicious teammate, finds friendship and ultimately self-acceptance.

For further information, contact Leicester Bay Theatricals.

DOG ON TRIAL (Mirror Publishing)

Can a dog be convicted of murder?

Twelve-year old Peter demands justice after a huge dog attacks his best friend, who was swimming in the canal.

Though he couldn’t save him, Peter vows to get even in the courtroom.

After conflicting testimony and surprise evidence, his doubts mount.

Justice is served, but not the way Peter expects.

The fictional chapter book is inspired by a 1936 landmark court case in upstate New York.

Geared to readers eight to twelve.

Joanna was recently interviewed by Diana Bolen on her television program Write on Track.