About Amy
In a recent Q&A, following the virtual reading of my play WINTER COLORS, I commented that I am preoccupied with writing plays in which the past is part of the present. In WINTER COLORS and THE SQUARE, my lead characters, both male veterans of US wars in Vietnam and Iraq, are gripped by past events and relationships. To become whole, they must come to terms with their life experiences. Often, the past can show the way forward.
While I also like to write about notable nineteenth century female figures- Jane Addams, Isabella Bird, Alice Hamilton- I find that inspiration comes in unexpected ways. In WINTER COLORS, the play begins when Fred, a Vietnam veteran, walks into a Vietnamese nail salon and strikes up a conversation with Hoa, its owner. In no time, the characters discover that they want to talk about Vietnam. This urgent conversation is hard at first, then it gets easier.
I was born in St Louis MO, but have lived mostly in the Boston area. After working as a nurse for the first twenty years of my adult life in local hospitals and health centers, the next twenty as an instructor of English composition and literature, I am now focused on writing plays, supporting my theater community and advocacy.
For the most part, my advocacy is focused on Iraq: writing plays about the US invasion and occupation of that country; advocating and co-creating as part of the Her Story Is (links) of independent women artists in Iraq and the United States. Despite lingering impact of war and the ongoing travesty of US presence in Iraq, and despite the geographic and cultural distances, members of the HSI collective have had foundtime to write, paint and dream together. Over the past ten years, these efforts have led to countless presentations, exhibitions and collaborations, and in 2025 and 2026, will culminate in two published books of poetry.
Though I have written many plays and have had the good fortune to have heard many of them read and produced, starting a new play is like climbing a mountain. Always challenging, always different. Never gets easier.
You can find her on Facebook or at amymerrill6@gmail.com