Literature
MAya washington is a multi-genre writer, whose debut memoir, Through the Banks of the Red Cedar my father and the team that changed the game is a Kindle Best Seller and an Amazon Editor’s Pick for Best History.
Maya holds a BA from the University of Southern California, and received an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University where she was a student poetry editor of Water ~ Stone Review. Maya’s literary background includes dramatic writing for stage and screen, children’s literature, fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.
Maya’s poems, and prose have appeared in UnderReview Lit (Pushcart Nomination), Water~Stone, Perigee-Apogee Journal, Prairie Schooner, Gulf Coast, Talking Stick, Angel Face, Rock Paper Scissors, Lone Star Legacy and others. Her theatre work has been staged at Youth Performance Company in Minneapolis, MN, Congo Square Theatre’s August Wilson Playwriting Initiative in Chicago, IL, and appears in Playwrights’ Center Monologues for Women (Heinemann Drama, 2005) .
Her literary poetry and prose are featured in a number of recent anthologies including, The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2 : Black Girl Magic edited by Mahogany L. Browne, Idrissa Simmonds, and Jamila Woods (Haymarket Books 2018), Nothing To Lose But Our Chains: Black Voices on Activism, Resistance and Love edited by Marvin K. White (Justice Matters Press, 2018) and The Beiging of America: Personal Narratives About Being Mixed Race in the Twenty-First Century edited by Cathy J. Scholund-Vials and Tara Betts (2Leaf Press, 2017).
She is the editor of White Space Poetry Anthology featuring the work of deaf and hearing poets as a companion to her award-winning short film, White Space. Maya Washington regularly curates poetry readings and events featuring some of America’s most talented poets and writers.
“[A]n immensely moving tribute to her father, former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Gene Washington…. Readers will be enthralled and heartened by this unique look at the way sports can influence society.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review for Through the Banks of the Red Cedar My Father and the Team that Changed the Game, from Little A 2022
“Maya Washington also takes a solid swing at the modular essay in her biopic of Bubba Smith, who played for the Raiders, Oilers and Colts, before going onto star in the Police Academy movies. Tainted with sadness, being trapped within the big black body, is a recurrent theme in both this essay and other pieces.”
—DM O’Connor, NewPages.com review of Prairie Schooner Volume 89 Number 4, Winter 2015 edited by Natalie Diaz
Maya Washington’s Debut Memoir is available in Bookstores!
Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review
Amazon Editor’s Pick Best History
Minnesota Book Awards 2023 Finalist
