Chana Porter is a talented and accomplished author, playwright, and education activist. She has been recognized by the New York Times for her unique writing style, which utilizes incongruity and exaggeration to expose deeper truths about human life and endeavor. Her plays have been developed or produced at several prestigious theaters, including The Flea Theater, Playwrights Horizons, and La MaMa. Porter's work is often described as daring and bold, with the Houston Press noting that her type of storytelling is like a lion's roar in an all too often timid jungle.
Porter's accolades include being a MacDowell Fellow, a New Georges Audrey Resident, and the recipient of an Honorable Mention for the Relentless Prize. She is also the co-founder of the Octavia Project, a free summer writing and STEM program for Brooklyn teenage girls and non-binary youth. The program uses speculative fiction to help participants envision greater possibilities for the world. Porter is a dedicated teacher and has taught her embodied creativity course, Writing from the Body, at various universities and colleges.
In addition to her work in theater and education, Porter is also a novelist. Her debut novel, The Seep, is set to be published by Soho Press in 2020. She is currently the writer-in-residence at The Catastrophic Theatre in Houston. Porter is based in Los Angeles, California and goes by she/they pronouns. Her work as a playwright, novelist, and education activist has made her an important and influential figure in the literary and theater communities.