Fei Kayser, Chinese Dramatist, USC International Artist Fellowship Program (IAF)

The Strategic Vision: Matching Deeds to Ambitions highlights the special prominence of the arts at USC, with six world-class arts schools that nourish and are nourished by the global metropolis of Los Angeles.  It envisions our “bringing the best international artists from the Pacific Rim, South Asia and Latin America to our campus for study to form a cadre of creative leaders, whose work will influence USC, Los Angeles and the world.”  In pursuit of this vision, the International Artist Fellowship program was created to form a world arts community that celebrates diverse perspectives, artistic exchange and academic values.

Today, I am delighted to introduce you to our inaugural class of International Artist Fellows.  I had the pleasure of welcoming these four exceptional young artists to USC last week.

SEE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT HERE

Fei Kayser is an international dramatist who writes about the ways that Chinese people both collide against and celebrate their rapidly changing country and the world. Tradition and history-laden culture are matched against a newer, faster society and its evolving expectations. There is excitement in this drama that plays out in the new China – in its challenges and triumphs - which form the narratives and fabric of Kayser’s work.

Kayser was born in Xi’an, Shaanxi, and lived in China, America, Canada, and the United Kingdom, before settling in Beijing. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University with distinction in her major of theater studies, with a concentration in playwriting. Her writing has been honored with a number of awards, prizes, and fellowships, including the Elga Ruth Wasserman Award in Women's and Gender Studies, the Henry S. McNeil Fellowship, and a Hedgebrook Writing Residency, among other distinctions.

In addition to writing drama for the stage, Kayser has written for China Central Television, China Daily, and interactive media. She is a sought after collaborator on screenplays, with credits on projects spanning the genres of deep science fiction, Chinese fantasy, and historical drama. She has advised Chinese film companies both small and established, and she was a founding member of the screenwriting program at Naga Film, Beijing, serving as the senior consultant to its board.

Kayser will begin her Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing at the USC School of Dramatic Arts in the fall of 2013. She will join the inaugural class of USC International Artist Fellows.