To interview Betty Shamieh contact the IMEU at 718-514-9662 or info@imeu.net

Palestinian playwright Betty Shamieh is the author of 15 plays.

Betty Shamieh is a screenwriter, actor and author of 15 plays, a number of them having been produced off-Broadway and internationally.

The San Francisco Bay Area native grew up steeped in the culture of the local Palestinian-American community. This served as the inspiration for her first play "One Arabian Night." The play was a finalist in the under-18 Young Playwrights Festival. Shamieh's work is known for addressing women's issues and "the struggle with being good Arab girls."

In 2003, Shamieh performed as an actress in her own play, "Chocolate in Heat", which opened to a sold out crowd at the New York International Fringe Festival. It consisted of the interconnected monologues of a Palestinian girl growing up poor in Spanish Harlem. "Chocolate in Heat" played for two extended off-Broadway runs and toured more than 20 universities throughout the United States.

Shamieh's off-Broadway debut was in 2004 with the premiere of "Roar," a drama about a Palestinian family. The play was honored as a New York Times Critics Pick for four consecutive weeks and was later published by the Broadway Play Publishers. "Roar" was directed by Tony nominee Marion McClinton and starred Annabella Sciorra.

Her newest play, "Territories" debuted in San Francisco in January 2008.

Off-stage, Shamieh mentors aspiring screenwriters as a professor at Marymount Manhattan College.