Fado: The Saddest Music in the World

Elaine Ávila's plays are produced in Central America, Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia. She is cofounder of the International Climate Change Theatre Action, involving 50 playwrights and 45,000 audience members worldwide. Some of her Best New Play Awards include: Jane Austen, Action Figure (Festival de los Cocos, Panamá City), Lieutenant Nun (Victoria Critics Circle), and Café a Brasileira (Disquiet International Literary Program in Lisbon). Elaine has taught in universities from Portugal to Tasmania, China to Panamá. She has served as the playwright in residence at Pomona College in Los Angeles, Quest University Canada, and Western Washington University; as the Endowed Chair and Head of the MFA Program in Dramatic Writing at the University of New Mexico; and founder of the LEAP Playwriting Program at the Arts Club Theater in Vancouver. The 2019 Fulbright Scholar to the University of the Azores, Elaine lives in New Westminster with her musician-teacher husband and her artist-activist son.