Naomi Iizuka is a playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

. Iizuka's works often have a non-linear storyline and are influenced by her multicultural background.

Iizuka's mother is an American Latina

Latino

The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...

 and her father is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese banker. Born in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Iizuka grew up in Japan, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, Holland, and Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. She has lived in Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

 and currently lives in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

.

Iizuka attended the National Cathedral School

National Cathedral School

National Cathedral School is an independent Episcopal private day school for girls located on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C...

 and has a B.A. in Classics from Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

. She is a
University of California, San Diego Alumna and has a MFA

Master of Fine Arts

A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...

 from the UC San Diego

University of California, San Diego

The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...

 (1992), has taught playwriting at the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

 and the University of Texas, Austin, and was a Professor of Dramatic Arts and Director of the Playwriting Program at UC Santa Barbara

University of California, Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...

 until January 2008 when she took over as the head of M.F.A playwrighting at UCSD.

Works

• The Last Firefly (2011)
• Concerning Strange Devices from the Distant West (2010)
• Ghostwritten (2009)
• Anon(ymous) (2006)
• Hamlet: Blood in the Brain (2006)
• Strike-Slip (2006)
• At the Vanishing Point (2004)
• 17 Reasons (Why) (2003)
• 36 Views (2001)
• War of the Worlds (Written in collaboration with Anne Bogart
  Anne Bogart
  -Biography:She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bard College in 1974, followed by a Master of Arts degree from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1977. She served as Artistic Director of the Trinity Repertory Company for its 1989-90 season...
  
  ) (2000)
• Language of Angels
  Language of angels
  Language of angels may refer to:*Enochian a name often applied to an occult or angelic language recorded in the private journals of John Dee and his seer Edward Kelley in the late 16th century....
  
   (2000)
• Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls (1999)
• Polaroid Stories (1997)
• Marolowe's Eye (1996)
• Skin (1995)
• Tattoo Girl (1994)
• Carthage (1994)
• Coxinga (1994)
• Ikeniye (1994)
• Crazy Jane (1992)
• Portrait of Bianca (1992)
• Greenland (1992)
• Lizzy Vinyl (1990)
• And Then She Was Screaming (1990)
• After a Hundred Years

Awards

• 2007 PEN/Laura Pels Award winner
• 2006 Joyce Award winner
• Whiting Writers' Award
  Whiting Writers' Award
  The Whiting Writers' Award is an American award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and plays. The award is sponsored by the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation and has been presented since 1985. As of 2007, winners receive US $50,000.-External links:**...
  
  , 1999
• McKnight Advancement Grand
• NEA/TCG Artist-in-Residence Fellowship
• Princeton University’s Hodder Fellowship
• 2005 Alpert Award in the Arts
• Stavis Award from the National Theatre Conference
• Rockefeller Foundation
  Rockefeller Foundation
  The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
  
  MAP grant
• Gerobe Foundation Fellowship
• Jerome Fellowship
• PEN Center USA West Award for Drama