Kristiana Colón, one of Chicago's Def Poets, is a poet, playwright, actress, and educator who has been writing and performing for eight years. She has been featured on Power 92, WBEZ Chicago Public Radio, WGN Radio, and WZRD. Kristiana has rocked the mic at some of the Midwest's top venues including the Park West, the Metro, the Star Plaza Theater, the Aragon, the HotHouse, Darkroom, Subterranean, the Funky Buddha Lounge and Sonotheque, as well as venues across the nation and abroad. Kristiana has shared stages with highly acclaimed writers Marc Smith, the creator of the worldwide 'poetry slam' phenomenon, Haki Madhubuti, Luis Rodriguez, Kevin Coval, Tara Betts, Sonia Sanchez, Malik Yusef, and has opened for De La Soul, Grammy-nominated band Ozomatli and internationally-acclaimed comedian Damon Williams.
In 2007, Kristiana's first original play but i cd only whisper was produced at the University of Chicago, directed by Tiffany Trent. It has since received a reading at the Lincoln Center in New York and won 2nd place in the 2008 Theodore Ward Playwriting Competition, followed by a reading directed by legendary director Chuck Smith. It is now receiving interest across the nation and abroad. Her most recent play The Darkest Pit will have its world premiere at Chicago's Prop Theater in September 2009.
In 2005, Kristiana released her independently produced spoken word CD entitled Who Haunts Eden and was featured on HBO's fifth season of Def Poetry Jam. In addition to recording, publishing, and performing, Kristiana also spends some time teaching English at Malcolm X College and drama, performance poetry, and other forms of creative writing at inner-city schools to talented youth ages 6 - 18. Kristiana holds a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from the School of the Art Institute Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature/Creative Writing from the University of Chicago. She believes in the power of art as an educational tool and is committed to arts integration as a way to reinvigorate the learning experience, build social awareness, and provoke critical analysis of the world in which we live. view kristiana colón's CV
In 2007, Kristiana's first original play but i cd only whisper was produced at the University of Chicago, directed by Tiffany Trent. It has since received a reading at the Lincoln Center in New York and won 2nd place in the 2008 Theodore Ward Playwriting Competition, followed by a reading directed by legendary director Chuck Smith. It is now receiving interest across the nation and abroad. Her most recent play The Darkest Pit will have its world premiere at Chicago's Prop Theater in September 2009.
In 2005, Kristiana released her independently produced spoken word CD entitled Who Haunts Eden and was featured on HBO's fifth season of Def Poetry Jam. In addition to recording, publishing, and performing, Kristiana also spends some time teaching English at Malcolm X College and drama, performance poetry, and other forms of creative writing at inner-city schools to talented youth ages 6 - 18. Kristiana holds a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from the School of the Art Institute Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature/Creative Writing from the University of Chicago. She believes in the power of art as an educational tool and is committed to arts integration as a way to reinvigorate the learning experience, build social awareness, and provoke critical analysis of the world in which we live. view kristiana colón's CV
