Hello, again!

MK Writer (AKA Mrinalini Kamath)

You’d probably like to know something about the person you might be doing business with, wouldn’t you?

My Story

I’ve been a writer my whole life, moving back and forth between fiction and journalism. After college, I decided to try playwriting, and I had been writing plays for about 4 or 5 years when I was called in by a headhunter for a job as a copywriter.

I had never before thought about a career as a copywriter and I had never had anyone want to hire me because I was a playwright.  As it turned out, my boss had wanted to hire someone creative, and figured that she had hit paydirt by finding a playwright (which was cool, because, sadly, very few people think about that aspect of copywriting).

I was delighted with copywriting.  Like playwriting, it gave me a creative outlet for my writing and storytelling, but unlike playwriting, it paid me a regular salary:-)

As I worked in copywriting, I became interested in marketing as well, especially the psychology of marketing.  I find psychology (which really means people – go figure, a storyteller who’s interested in people!) fascinating, so I’m often reading books and articles on the psychology of marketing as much for fun as profit.

All that said, I still love the theatre:  There’s no feeling quite like seeing something you’ve written being acted in front of you.  There’s an adrenaline rush, you feel queasy, people around you laugh or suck in their breath at the right (or wrong) moments – it’s amazing.

Whether I’m writing copy or plays, I love writing for an audience:-)

Still not sure whether or not you want to hire me for your project?  Why not try a free consultation?

The Actors Studio Drama School, New School University, Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting

Johns Hopkins University, Bachelor of Arts, The Writing Seminars. Graduated with departmental honors and The Louis Azrael Fellowship in Communications ($5,000 merit scholarship awarded by the Writing Seminars Department on the basis of a written portfolio).

Semi-finalist, the Samuel French 32nd Annual Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival (2007)

Semi-finalist, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference (2007)

Semi-finalist, Eugene O’Neill Playwrights’ Conference (2007)

Semi-finalist, Page 73 Productions (P73) Fellowship (2006)

Fellow, Maria-Theresa A. Gamboni/Nancy Quinn Fund Start the Story (Fluid Motion Theatre and Film) (2006-07)

Partial Scholarship, SLS Russia Program (2006)

Finalist, Bay Area Playwrights’ Festival (2005)

Winner, First Place, East West Players “Got Laughs?” Play Competition, Los Angeles, CA (2005)

Finalist, Tribeca All Access Open Stage, NY, NY (2004)

Finalist, Jerome Fellowship, Playwrights’ Center, Minneapolis, MN (2004)

University and Theatre Scholarships, ASDS, New School University (2000 – 2003)

Tennessee Williams Scholar, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Sewanee, TN (2003)

Finalist, Actors Theatre of Louisville Ten-Minute Play Contest (2003)

Finalist, Ensemble Studio Theatre‘s Marathon of One-Act Plays (2002)

Winner, Young Playwrights’ Contest, Green Theatre Company, New Malden, Surrey, U.K. (2002)

Winner, Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) New Play Development Workshop (2000, 2002 and 2003)

Winner, Religion and Theatre Division of the ATHE One-Act Competition (2000)

Smith and Kraus’ The Best Stage Scenes of 1999 (Confessions from the Afterlife)

Smith and Kraus’ The Best Stage Scenes of 2000 (Roulette)

Playscripts.com‘s Great Short Plays: Vol. 2 (Views) and Actor’s Choice: Monologues for Teens (monologue from Views)

Hot-Blooded: Monologues from the Members of Youngblood

Healthy Primates and Other Plays from the New Play Development Workshop (Strangers on a Train, The Some of All Parts and Bunnicuba)

Smith and Kraus’ Ten-Minute Plays for 3 or More Actors 2004 edited by Michael Bigelow Dixon (The Some of All Parts)

Smith and Kraus’ Audition Arsenal: 101 Monologues by Type, 2 Minutes and Under, for Men in their 20s (excerpt from Celestial Motions)

Smith and Kraus’ Plays for Two Actors 2007 (A Rush of Wings)