ALICE AUSTEN 

Writer/filmmaker. 

Austen was a kid growing up in the Pacific Northwest when she showed her short stories to Ken Kesey, he told her she was a writer and mentored her early work. Austen studied creative writing under Seamus Heaney while obtaining a JD at Harvard, where she co-founded the Harvard Human Rights Journal. She was the first American to receive a fellowship to the European Court of Human Rights at the Council of Europe. Fresh out of law school, Austen was in Prague, representing Vaclav Havel’s Czech government, and Brussels, leading ground-breaking transactions that became Harvard Business Review Case Studies. Over a bet in an Irish pub, she penned a play that was picked up and produced. 

Austen went on to write plays that have been honoured with numerous awards, residencies and productions, including at the Royal Court, Steppenwolf, and Goodman Theatres. Past productions include ANIMAL FARM (Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago Tribune notable production), and her adaptation and translation of Duras’ LA MUSICA (Timeout Critic’s pick). Her play GIRLS IN THE BOAT (Dramatic Publishing) has had dozens of productions across the country. CHERRY ORCHARD MASSACRE was published in the Vestnik Evropy.

As a filmmaker, Austen is a recipient of the John Cassavetes Award for GIVE ME LIBERTY. Current projects include HOW’S YER SHOULDER, EDDIE? (writer/producer, pre-production), EMILIE D. (writer/executive producer), and VALLEY OF HEARTS DELIGHT (writer/producer).  

Austen’s debut novel 33 PLACE BRUGMANN is being published by Grove Atlantic (US) and Bloomsbury (UK), with rights sold so far in ten territories including to Ambo Anthos (Netherlands), Fischer (Germany), Salamandra (Spain), Editions du Seuil (France), and Hayakawa (Japan).