Leanna Brodie is a playwright, translator, and performer who navigates cultural divides between urban and rural, Francophone and anglophone communities, while centring the histories and perspectives of women.

Brodie’s plays and libretti have been performed across Canada (including on CBC Radio) and in the US and New Zealand: in 2015, Brodie collaborated with composer Anthony Young on Ulla’s Odyssey, the Flourish Prize–winning opera which toured the UK for two years with OperaUpClose. The Vic, For Home and Country, Schoolhouse, and The Book of Esther are published by Talonbooks.

Brodie is also a leading translator of contemporary Québécois and Franco-Canadian playwrights. Recent premieres include David Paquet’s Wildfire (Factory Theatre, Toronto and Upstream Theater, St. Louis) and The Shoe (The Cherry Artspace, Ithaca NY); Joe Jack et John’s Violette (Espace Libre/PuSh Festival); Rébecca Déraspe’s I Am William (Stratford Festival); and Mohsen El Gharbi’s Omi Mouna (MT Space/Infinithéâtre). Published translations include Rébecca Déraspe’s You Are Happy, Catherine Léger’s Opium–37, and Louise Bombardier’s My Mother Dog (Playwrights Canada Press). Upcoming: the publication of Rébecca Déraspe’s I Am William (Scirocco Drama) and David Paquet’s Wildfire & The Shoe (Playwrights Canada Press) as well as productions of Fanny Britt’s Governor-General’s Award-winning Benevolence (Ruby Slippers Theatre, Vancouver), Anaïs Pellin’s Clementine (Carousel Theatre, Vancouver), and Wildfire (Talisman Theatre, Montréal).

Brodie has led emerging writers’ units at Playwrights Theatre Centre and taught writing workshops at the Ryga Arts Festival and Acadia University. While in the MFA programme at the University of Calgary, Brodie (with co-writer Jovanni Sy) has also been working on Salesman in China, a commission from the Stratford Festival.