Kirby Fields has an MFA in Playwriting from Carnegie Mellon and is the Artistic Director of UP Theater, an independent theater company that serves upper Manhattan. His plays have been produced or developed in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Kansas City, and Washington DC. He is proudest of UP's production of K COMMA JOSEPH and LAByrinth Theater's reading of SUMMER SESSION WITH THE BONES BRIGADE. His short play, "Flood," was featured in the Winter 2020 issue of the Southern Indiana Review, and the first chapter of his novel, SHELTER ME, was a winner in Arch Street Press' "Best First Chapter" contest. His short film, "Not So Hilarious Anymore," which he wrote and produced, screened at 10 festivals, including those in New York, San Francisco, Portland, and Liverpool. He is from Joplin, Missouri, and currently lives in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City.