Chicago playwright and screenwriter.

Mia McCullough was born in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York and grew up in the small working class town of Hawthorne, New York. McCullough came to Chicago to attend Northwestern University, where she graduated in 1992 with a degree in theater. She began with a focus in acting and directing until her junior year, where she reignited her love for writing. Here she discovered her interest in writing and creating her own scripts instead of interpreting someone else’s play. After graduation, she remained in Chicago. She spent the first few years independently writing and attending occasional workshops and festivals. Around 2006, she began meeting with the group, the Playwrights Collective where she rekindled the constructive collaborative spirit she had in college.

McCullough has written plays that have been produced on stages in Chicago, Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Philadelphia. For her breakthrough play, “Chagrin Falls,” she was the recipient of the ATCA Osborn Award, a Joseph Jefferson Citation for Best New Work, first prize in the Julie Harris Playwriting competition, and a Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Best Production. She has received many other awards for her other works. She has taught playwriting at both Chicago Dramatists and Northwestern University. She currently lives in Evanston.