BIO  

Hello!  My name is Annie Calhoun and I am a passionate writer and innovative educator residing in Los Angeles, California.  I come from the midwest where I received my BS in English/Theatre Education for grades 6-12 at Taylor University, and then my MFA in Acting from DePaul University's Theatre School.  I still act and perform improv at iO West (I did iO, UCB and Second City's training programs where I performed on house teams regularly), but I have chosen to focus on writing at this time in my career using all of my theatre training to create stories and characters with depth, humor, and vulnerability.  I am LOVING it.                                WRITER:                                                                                                                --Hour Long TV Drama Pilot for Series (writing partner Mary O'Malley):                    CODE SWITCH (based on the disparity of different schools in LA)           -Novels:                                                                                                                            CJ AND PUG (middle grade, just finished, see below!)                                    THE RESOURCEFUL ROOM (middle grade, in progress)                           -Plays:                                                                                                                                 HALSTED STREET VALETS (ACT Play finalist)                                                    COUCH DATES; AN AMISH PLAY (DePaul)                                                         IN THE BEGINNING (Red Orchid debut)                                                               CARNIVAL Libretto (ChiArts Dance Co.)                                                             AGES WITH 8 (Red Orchid short play series)                                                       OREGON TRAIL THE MUSICAL (iO Chicago)                                                      NUN MEMOIRS (Chautauqua Theatre Co.)                                                                                                                                                                   EDUCATOR:                                                                                                         My current students and alumni are amazing.  I was adjunct faculty at DePaul University teaching theatre and had the privilege to teach acting on the founding faculty of the first ever public arts high school in Chicago, ChiArts in 2009 (http://www.chiarts.org/).  I moved to California in 2012 to help found KIPP Scholar Academy, a public charter middle school meeting the needs of underserved youth in South LA (http://www.kippla.org/scholar/).  I am the current reading specialist and theatre director here.  I also teach voice and speech at The Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (http://www.lachsa.net/).

NEW NOVEL, "CJ AND PUG" 

I have been teaching in inner city neighborhoods like CJ and Pug’s since receiving my MFA six years ago from DePaul University in Chicago, and I am thrilled to have created and finished a novel that has come out of these experiences.  CJ AND PUG is complete with at 54,000 words.

What I've noticed as a teacher, is a lack of middle grade fiction that mirrors the daily lives and faces of my students.  There are sensationalized stories about urban areas, but a deficit in humorous realistic adventures that occur within the funny and touching moments of daily growing up.  CJ AND PUG fills this void.  This book is for my kids.  I am a member of SCBWI and often speak at the Los Angeles chapter meetings on the integration of new Common Core educational                                                                           standards into writing for youth.