Andrew Saito, MFA

Core Faculty on Professional Development Leave, S24

Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy centers on honoring each student’s agency, curiosity, and
singular creative voice. My pedagogy emphasizes engaging with history and our
contemporary world, and the rich artistic traditions that precede and surround us.
Centering BIPOC, women, and LGBTQ+ artists is a matter of course. Research is key
to my process, and I model for students digging deeply within themselves, and in the world outside, engaging other people, communities, and places. I incorporate exercises in the vein of Maria Irene Fornés that subvert students’ conscious thinking and go to deeper, subconscious levels, where true imaginative richness resides. I share my own creative process to illustrate and encourage rigor. I provide structure, access to tools and resources, accountability, genuine interest in students’ intellects and creativity, and an outside eye to articulate strengths, patterns, and areas for growth.

Education

MFA, Iowa Playwrights Workshop
BA in Ethnic Studies, University of California-Berkeley

Areas of Expertise

  • Playwriting and Theatre
  • Television Writing
  • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • Climate Change
  • Latin America (especially Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, and Cuba)
  • Research Techniques

Pronouns: He/Him

Languages: English, Spanish, Tok Pisin, Portuguese

Meaningful Action in the World

I try to be an activist, and, due to the persistent deep wounds in the world, ever feel like I’m falling short. I’m a member of the Writers Guild of America’s Climate Storytelling Initiative, and have volunteered extensively with Working America, Swing Left, and other organizations focused on elections and voting rights. I have also worked with multiple indigenous in Latin America. I taught poetry and theatre to Mayan children and youth in Ixcán Guatemala with the organization ArtsCorps, playwriting workshops at Mayan language community radio stations in Guatemala, and have worked extensively with the Maya Achí community in Rabinal, Guatemala. I have also taught poetry to immigrant youth in San Francisco as a teaching artist with WritersCorps and Performing Arts Workshop. Outside of the arts, I have worked in philanthropy and development around the rights of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, BIPOC social impact leaders, and climate change.

Publications

  • “Owls and Deer,” in forthcoming Montalvo Arts Center anniversary publication, 2023
  • “Writing in the Woods,” published by HowlRound Theatre Commons, 2017
  • “The Revisions of Mount Misery,” published by HowlRound Theatre Commons, 2015
  • “Between Me and the World” (memoir), published in Teaching Artist Journal, 2008
  • sociogastronomy, limited-edition handmade artist book (with photographer Victoria Heilweil), 2006
  • Editor, The School is a Giant T-Rex, Performing Arts Workshop, 2006
  • Editor, What Goes Up: WritersCorps at the SF Public Library, WritersCorps, 2005
  • Editor, Memories Like Night Falling: WritersCorps at Newcomer High School, WritersCorps, 2005
  • Editor, Fish Walking on their Fins, Performing Arts Workshop, 2005
  • Ode to my mother’s hands: poems, Self-published chapbook, 2002
  • Oda Corporal: love poems, Self-published chapbook, 2002

Presentations/Performances/Shows

Staff Writer, The Lost Symbol, CBS Studios/Peacock, Wrote teleplay for episode “Cascade”

Professional Theatre Productions

  • Br’er Peach, Desdemona Chiang, dir.; AlterTheatre and The Parsnip Ship (audio production), June 2021 on; National tour partners: Cal Shakes, Bishop Arts Theatre Center
  • El Río, Edris Cooper, dir., Brava for Women in the Arts, September 28 – October 20, 2019
  • Men of Rab’inal, Lakin Valdez, dir., La Peña/El Teatro Campesino, May – June 2019
  • to all persons…, Jen Chang, dir., East West Players, February 17 – May 15, 2017
  • Stegosaurus (or) Three Cheers for Climate Change, Rem Myers, dir., Faultline Theater, April 1 – 16, 2016
  • Life is a Dream (trans.), Paige Rogers, dir., The Cutting Ball Theater, October 2 – November 1, 2015
  • Mount Misery, Rob Melrose, dir., The Cutting Ball Theater, May 14 – June 21, 2015
  • Another Fine Day in the Park, Chase Ramsey, dir., The Cutting Ball Theater, 10 April 2015
  • Krispy Kritters in the Scarlett Night, Rob Melrose, dir., The Cutting Ball Theater, May 17 – June 23, 2013
  • Evolve!, Myers Clark, dir., Handful Players at Yoshi’s San Francisco, May 23, 2009
  • Nuestra Señora de las Enfermedades, Lakin Valdez, dir., Brava Theatre Center, November 1 – 3, 2008

andrew.saito@goddard.edu Website

Affiliation MFA Creative Writing