Peter Nickowitz was the 2008-2009 Harold Clurman Playwright-in-residence at the Stella Adler Studio and head of the Harold Clurman Playwrights Division. He is a playwright, screenwriter, and poet. The Alice Complex had its world premiere in the Cherry Lane Theatre in August 2008 as part of the 12th Annual New York International Fringe Festival, starring Obie Award winner Lisa Banes and Tony nominee Xanthe Elbrick. The Alice Complex received a workshop production at the 2005 Dixon Place HOT! Festival in New York City and was produced at the Blank Theatre in Los Angeles in January 2006 along with his new play, Backgammon at the Louvre. This production starred Tony Award-winner Harriet Harris and Kate Mara.
Peter’s poems have appeared in a number of literary magazines including The Paris Review, Barrow Street, Third Coast, Shampoo, and Slope. He has been a finalist for the National Poetry Series, Barrow Street Book Award, and Levis prizes. He is the author of Rhetoric and Sexuality: The Poetry of Hart Crane, Elizabeth Bishop, and James Merrill (Palgrave Macmillan 2006). Lulu, the screenplay Peter co-wrote with Bill Oliver based on the life of silent film star Louise Brooks, was selected for the FIND/LA Screenwriters Lab and optioned by Neve Campbell’s First Snow Productions. Peter and Bill’s latest screenplay, The Obit Writer, is a contemporary noir thriller that has been optioned by producer Susan A. Stover and HeadQuarters.
Peter is a graduate of Brandeis University and New York University. He has taught American Literature and creative writing at The University of Southern California, The City University of New York, and New York University.