Katie Brewer Ball (KBB) is a writer living on Nonotuck land in Western Massachusetts. They are Associate Professor of Performance Studies in the Theater Department at Wesleyan University, and affiliated faculty in the Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program. Brewer Ball earned their PhD in Performance Studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Their research and teaching interests include performance, visual culture, Black and Indigenous thought, feminist theory, queer studies, and psychoanalysis. Their first book, The Only Way Out: The Racial & Sexual Performance of Escape, examines contemporary literature, theater, and performance works that deal with narratives of escape. They are currently working on two book projects, Unsettling Art Criticism: Alaska Native Art After 1960, for which they are a 2024 recipient of the The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers grant, and a book on the historic of Arctic science on the North Slope of Alaska. Their writing has been published in ASAP/Journal, Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory, WSQ: Women’s Studies Quarterly, TDR: The Drama Review, Artforum, Little Joe, Bomb Magazine, Dirty Looks, and by BOFFO Fire Island Artists Residency and ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives. In addition to teaching, Brewer Ball curates performance and art events, including the NYC performance salon, Adult Contemporary, and publishes creative nonfiction.

kbrewerball [at] wesleyan [dot] edu