David-Matthew Barnes

David-Matthew Barnes (born September 3, 1970) is an American filmmaker, novelist, playwright, poet, and teacher.

Barnes is the CEO of Fairground CineFilms, a creative company formed to develop and produce new film projects. In addition, he is the host of the weekly radio show People You Should Know and serves as the Artistic Director of the Dorothy Nickle Performing Arts Company.

Barnes is on the faculty of the Spalding University brief-residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program where he mentors students in playwriting, screenwriting, and writing for children and young adults.

Barnes is the award-winning author of the novels Mesmerized (Bold Strokes Books, 2010), Swimming to Chicago (Bold Strokes Books, 2011), Accidents Never Happen (Bold Strokes Books, 2011), The Jetsetters (Bold Strokes Books, 2012), Wonderland (Bold Strokes Books, 2013), Ambrosia (Pinwheel Entertainment Group, 2012), The Marijuana Mermaids (2014), Stronger Than This (Bold Strokes Books, 2014), and Fifty Yards and Holding (Bold Strokes Books, 2015). He is also the author of a forthcoming collection of poetry titled Souvenir Boy.

Barnes is the writer and director of the coming-of-age film Frozen Stars (starring Lana Parrilla), which received worldwide distribution in 2003. He is the writer, director, and producer of the dramatic short film Threnody, starring Caroline Barry and Santiago Charboneau. He is the screenwriter of the romantic comedy Catching Up with Tina Duncan (adapted from his novel Ambrosia) and the horror film Scare Me, Kill Me. He is the writer and director of the female-centric film Made From Scratch, starring Heather Brant, Lisann Valentin, LaKisha Long, and Mallorie Halsall. He is the writer and director of the coming-of-age film Johnny Ramirez Really Wants to Kiss Me (adapted from his award-winning stage play), starring Santiago Charboneau and Jenna Reimonenq. He is also the co-writer of the upcoming Latina-themed film The Other Side of Pretty.

Barnes has written over forty stage plays that have been performed in three languages in eight countries, including And The Winner Is (Playscripts, Inc.), Are You All Right in There? (Playscripts, Inc.), Bracelets and Boyfriends (JAC Publishing), Clean (JAC Publishing), Don't Mention It (JAC Publishing), False Hopes (JAC Publishing), Pensacola (JAC Publishing), Sloe Gin Fizz (JAC Publishing), Somebody's Baby (Heuer Publishing), Temporary Heroes (Brooklyn Publishers), and Unrequited (Brooklyn Publishers). His stage plays have been official selections for the Chicago Director's Festival, the DC Queer Theatre Festival, FronteraFest, the Johannesburg One-Act Drama Festival, the Mid-America Dramatists Lab, the NYC 15-Minute Play Festival, the Rough Writers New Play Festival, and the Western Australia Drama Festival. His plays have been performed on stages across the country including the American Globe Theatre, the Boston Center for the Arts, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Hyde Park Theatre, and the Producer's Club in New York City. Internationally his plays have been produced around the world including performances in Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and more. Barnes is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and International Thriller Writers.

Barnes' literary work has appeared in over one hundred publications including The Best Stage Scenes, The Best Women's Stage Monologues, The Best Men's Stage Monologues, The Comstock Review, Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts, Review Americana, and The Southeast Review. He has also served as the guest editor of dramatic literature for The Louisville Review and has written book reviews for the Lambda Literary Foundation since the fall of 2011.

Two of Barnes' young adult novels, Swimming to Chicago and Wonderland, have been nominated for the Rainbow List of the American Library Association, a list of quality books with significant and authentic GLBTQ content for children and teens. Barnes was selected by Kent State University as the national winner of the Hart Crane Memorial Poetry Award. In addition, he has received the Carrie McCray Literary Award, the Slam Boston Award for Best Play, and earned double awards for poetry and playwriting in the World AIDS Day Writing Contest. He has received national awards in the Split This Rock Poetry Contest and the New Works for Young Women playwriting competition. He is the winner of two Elly Awards from the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance, an award from Writer’s Digest, and an award from the Florida Freelance Writers Association.

He lives in Denver, Colorado with his partner, Edward C. Ortiz, the founding editor of 7 Word Review.