LIZA JESSIE PETERSON,
Philadelphia born-New York based actor/writer/performance artist, appeared in the Sundance award winning film SLAM and
can be seen in Spike Lee's film Bamboozled. She recently co-starred in Love the Hard Way with Adrien Brody. TV credits include HBO's Def Poetry Jam and PBS's popular children's
show "Between the Lions" where she was commissioned to write and perform poetry for three episodes. Her poetry is featured
in The Vibe History of Hip Hop, SLAM the book, and The Longshot Anthology.
Liza has written several plays: "Sistahgirls
and the Squirrel", "Mercury Retrograde", "Witness the Priestess" and co created "Church of the Living Womb: The Revival".
Her two solo shows include "Chiron's Homegirl Healer Howls" --a One Woman Funk Opera, and "The Peculiar Patriot". Joe's
Pub (at the Public Theater), the Whitney Museum of Art, Bam café, Here Theater, plus numerous universities throughout the
country as well as notable theater festivals and concerts like the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans where she performed
in front of a crowd of 30 thousand people are just a few of the places Liza has performed her original work. Since
1998 to date, Liza facilitates an Alive and Free Life Skills poetry/ creative writing workshop with incarcerated adolescents
at Rikers Island. She continues to do prison outreach with the youth and currently runs an Urban Folktale
Drama Project at Friends of Island Academy where young women previously incarcerated write and perform plays based on their
experiences. She has received several grants supporting these efforts including one from the Rush Arts Philanthropic Foundation.
The
Peculiar Patriot, her most recent multi-media solo show, is currently touring numerous facilities at Rikers Island. From inmates to Wardens, Liza's work wows them all.
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