Ayun Halliday

Summary

Ayun Halliday is an American writer and actor.[1]

Ayun Halliday
Born (1965-03-29) March 29, 1965 (age 58)
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
OccupationWriter and Actor
NationalityAmerican
EducationPark Tudor School
Alma materNorthwestern University
GenreZines, Graphic novels, Memoir, Plays, Travel literature
Spouse
(m. 1995)
PartnerStephen Colbert (1986–1990)
Children2
Website
www.ayunhalliday.com

She is best known as the author and illustrator (or, as Halliday herself terms it, "the chief primatologist") of the long-running zine The East Village Inky.[2] The zine got its name from Halliday's living in New York City's East Village, and "Inky" being the nickname of her then-infant daughter India.[3]

Her first graphic novel, Peanut, was published in December 2012 and was positively reviewed by The New York Times.[4]

Early life edit

Halliday was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. She attended Park Tudor School and Northwestern University, where she obtained a degree in theater performance. She is also a licensed massage therapist, who completed her training at the Chicago School of Massage Therapy. After graduating, she joined the Neo-Futurists, an experimental theater troupe in Chicago. It was during her tenure with the troupe that she met her husband, playwright Greg Kotis.

Personal life edit

She lives in East Harlem, New York. She and Kotis have two children: India (born 1997) and Milo (born 2000).[5][6]

Halliday and Kotis are co-founders of Theater of the Apes.

Halliday created and hosts Necromancers of the Public Domain, a monthly performance series in New York City, wherein a dusty book from the New York Society Library is turned in a low budget variety show.

Published books edit

  • The Big Rumpus (published in the UK as Mama Lama Ding Dong) (2002)
  • No Touch Monkey! And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late (2003)
  • Job Hopper (2005)
  • Dirty Sugar Cookies: Culinary Observations, Questionable Taste (2006)
  • Always Lots of Heinies at the Zoo (2009)
  • The Zinester's Guide to NYC (2010)
  • Peanut (2012)
  • Creative, Not Famous: The Small Potato Manifesto (2022)
  • Creative, Not Famous Activity Book (2023)

Plays edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Bio". Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  2. ^ Halliday, Ayun (23 February 2014). "Interview with a Zinester: Ayun Halliday". Feminist Zinefest. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  3. ^ Sabin, Anika (23 January 2013). "Interview with Ayun Halliday". New York Times. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  4. ^ Paul, Pamela (28 February 2010). "Fitting In/Standing Out: 'Peanut,' by Ayun Halliday". Reading Frenzy. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  5. ^ Brady Smith, Lois (May 21, 2006). "Ayun Halliday and Greg Kotis". The New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  6. ^ Rendell, Joanne (July 14, 2015). "Theater on Their Own Terms". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 2, 2017.

External links edit

  • Official website
  • Dirty Sugar Cookies food blog
  • Whogoslavia? travel blog
  • 2006 Interview with Ayun
  • Theater of the Apes website
  • New York Times "Vows" column
  • Why Mommy Drinks podcast Ayun Halliday: What the Freakin' Fudge?