Playwright: LA EGOISTA

Erlina Ortiz (she/her) is a Dominican-American playwright, performer, and theatre maker from Reading, PA based in Philadelphia. Her heartfelt and timely plays on gentrification, domestic violence, and cultural preservation have been produced with Power Street Theatre where she is proud to be Co-Artistic Director and Resident Playwright. In 2018 Her play Las Mujeres received The Bonaly Award for Creation of Community Joy and in Spring 2019 her play Morir Sonyando was nominated for six Barrymore Awards including Outstanding New Play. Erlina has received the Amtrak Writer’s residency, the Signal Fire Outpost Residency, in 2019 she gave the Keynote Address at the Delaware Writer’s Conference, and she is a 2020 recipient of the Leeway Art and Change Grant. Erlina has taught playwriting with the University of the Arts, Power Street Theatre, and Blue Stoop phl. Erlina believes being an artist is a superpower, she believes in using her powers for good.