Mark Dunn (born July 12, 1956, in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

) is an American author and playwright. He studied film at Memphis State University (now the

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

) followed by post-graduate work in screenwriting at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

moving to New York in 1987 where he worked in the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

while writing plays in his free time. Among the 35 plays Dunn has written (as of 2023), ''Belles'' and ''Five Tellers Dancing in the Rain'' have been produced over one 150 times. Dunn served as playwright-in-residence with the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Repertory A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom ...

Company and the Community Theatre League in

Williamsport, Pennsylvania Williamsport is a city in and the county seat of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 27,754. It is the principal city of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a populati ...

. Dunn is the author of the popular "progressively lipogrammatic" novel '' Ella Minnow Pea'' (2001). In 1998, Dunn sued the writers, distributors and producers of ''

The Truman Show ''The Truman Show'' is a 1998 American Psychological film, psychological comedy-drama film written and co-produced by Andrew Niccol, and directed by Peter Weir. The film depicts the story of Truman Burbank (played by Jim Carrey), a man who is un ...

'', claiming that the story was based on a play he had written and performed

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in 1992, ''Frank's Life''.

Personal life

Originally from Memphis, Dunn now resides with his wife, Mary, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Published full-length plays

*''Belles'' (1989) *''Minus Some Buttons'' (1991) *''Sand Pies and Scissorlegs'' (1992) *''Five Tellers Dancing in the Rain'' (1994) *''Judge and Jury'' (1994) *''Frank's Life'' (1998) *''Cabin Fever: A Texas Tragicomedy'' (2000) *''The Deer and the Antelope Play'' (2001) *''Helen's Most Favorite Day'' (2005) *''Dix Tableaux'' (2007) *''A Delightful Quarantine'' (2007) *''PIGmalion'' (2010) *''Seven Interviews'' (2014) *''LMNOP'' (2015) *''Belles: The Reunion (2016)'' *''Happily Ever After: A Wedding Comedy'' (2016) *''The Glitter Girls'' (2018) *''The Puzzle with the Piazza'' (2022)

Books

*'' Ella Minnow Pea'' (2001) *'' Welcome to Higby'' (2002) *'' Ibid: A Life'' (2004) *''Zounds! A Browser's Dictionary of Interjections'' (2005) *''The Calamitous Adventures of Rodney And Wayne'' (2009) *''Under the Harrow'' (2012) *''American Decameron'' (2012) *''We Five'' (2015) *''Pentaptych'' (2018) *''Quizzing America: Television Game Shows and Popular Culture in the 1950s'' (2018) *''Texas People's Court: The Fascinating World of the Texas Justice of the Peace'' (2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Mark 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American novelists 1956 births Living people Writers from Memphis, Tennessee University of Memphis alumni Moody College of Communication alumni Writers from Albuquerque, New Mexico American male novelists American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Tennessee