Award-winning writer and educator to join ASU theatre faculty

The School of Music, Dance and Theatre in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University is pleased to announce that award-winning multidisciplinary storyteller Idris Goodwin will be joining the theatre faculty as associate professor of dramatic writing this fall.

“We are thrilled to welcome Idris Goodwin to our community,” said Heather Landes, director of the School of Music, Dance and Theatre. “Goodwin’s work as a storyteller engaged in multiple mediums, his passion for teaching and working with students of all ages, and his deep desire to communicate about the human condition align well with the school’s mission, our programs and the ASU Charter.”

As a playwright, breakbeat poet, arts leader, author and educator, Goodwin is an interdisciplinary writer for stage, audio, screen and page. Goodwin is the author of nearly 100 original plays, ranging from his hip-hop inspired breakbeat series to historical dramas and works for young audiences. As a screenwriter, his feature “This Is Modern Art” (adapted from his stage play) is currently in development with State Street Pictures, he adapted the memoir “Black Gods of the Asphalt” for Harper Road Film, and he worked on an adaptation of “The New Adventures of The Cat in The Hat” for Portfolio Entertainment.

Goodwin has appeared on or created content for HBO Def Poetry, Sesame Street, NPR, BBC Radio, Nickelodeon and the Discovery Channel. In 2024, he was awarded the Margo Jones Award. He is also a 2021 United States Artist Fellow. The New York Times has hailed his work as “incisive and moving.” Goodwin said he is passionate about sharing stories for audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

“I believe in the power of storytelling, and I love to support all the different ways people can craft and share stories,” said Goodwin. “Human beings are these cathedrals of story, and when we reflect on our story, there’s power in that.”

A lifelong educator, this position is a return to academia for Goodwin. His experience includes tenure-track professorship and serving as executive director of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College as well as artistic director of StageOne Family Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky and Seattle Children’s Theatre. Goodwin is also currently board president of Theatre for Young Audiences USA (TYAUSA). He holds an MFA in creative writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA in film/cinema/video studies from Columbia College Chicago.

“I love teaching,” said Goodwin. “I miss it, and I’m really excited to be returning to the classroom. The program that Guillermo Reyes has shepherded has been on my radar for years. It’s actually quite an honor to get to carry it forward and work in the department to forge the future. I’m really interested in supporting the next generation.”

In addition to teaching at ASU in the fall, Goodwin will be directing a show he wrote for Childsplay Theatre called “JSonic and the Unknown.” He also has a book coming out in October.

“I love to break down, analyze and support all the different ways that people can craft and share stories,” he said. “It’s an exciting time when there are so many pathways and portals for storytelling.”

We asked Goodwin to share more about storytelling and what he’s looking forward to at ASU.

Question: When did you first consider yourself a storyteller?

Answer: I always knew the arts were for me. I’ve always been very creative. I never considered a life without that. I used to draw and write and come up with lyrics. I was a tinkerer and interested in film. After all these years, I’ve boiled it down to storytelling. There are fundamentals of storytelling that have not changed, from Homer to the present day. There are certain things about a person immediately connecting with the journey of another person. We are immediately drawn into “once upon a time.” That has not changed, and there’s tremendous power in that. For the past several years, I've really seen up close the way that a five-year-old, a 50-year-old and an 80-year-old can all have a transformative experience around a story.

Q: How is storytelling a valuable skill?

A: We all appreciate and see the value of physical gathering, since we weren’t able to for a time. There is power in seeing the ways stories can connect with different types of people and different ages. That kind of ability is really useful and can serve people well. You’re going to have to know how to work with different communities, different ages, different interests. We can use stories to thread that needle and disarm people — not in a dubious way, but by really bringing people closer.

Q: What are you looking forward to as an associate professor of dramatic writing?

A: This is a great way to come back and apply what I’ve learned — to show emerging professionals and young people what’s possible. What’s really thrilling about this position is that it really is tailored to my experience, which is that as a playwright myself. I bring a certain amount of experience with words on the paper and also building bridges to seeing their words in the air and falling on the ears of people. The only way you can understand and learn is by watching your stories unfold with an audience in real time. This position is rooted in the fundamental thing that I love: How do we tell these stories and craft these stories? Why do people care? And what is it that makes a good story?

Q: What do you want ASU students to take away from your classes?

A: A semester is a significant chunk of your life. I want them to leave with the fundamental tenets of dramatic writing. I want people to be able to leave with a takeaway, something they can hold. They can say, “I was inspired by this. I was challenged by this.” For a novel that I wrote recently, I was inspired by revisiting my high school transcript. In looking at these classes, some of them I have zero recollection of. I don't ever want to be one of those classes. I always want folks to leave the class remembering they came in one way and they left still the same, but just a little different.

Q: What advice do you have for college students?

A: College is a whole journey, but it has to be really self driven; it needs to be a real time of growth and self-reflection. Everyone is coming to college for a different reason. You’re not going to solve everything. In fact, you want to leave more curious. You want to discover new riddles and figure out which riddles you want to crack. I want to be a useful stop on that journey where you are able to refill or get some snacks.