Max Bidasha

In 2018, I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer at the age of 35 and was told I had one year to live. Besides wanting to finish my bachelor's degree at Saint Mary's College of California, I knew I wanted to write, direct, produce, and act in a theater production. In January of 2020, my first play, STAGES, about my cancer journey, debuted to sold-out audiences in Washington state. During the pandemic, I wrote another play, which was turned into a film called Missing Red Girls, about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. The cast was comprised of Indigenous folks representing over ten nations.

     Fast forward to 2024 and I have graduated cum laude, written several more plays including, The Kids Are NOT Alright, Mission: Totem Pole, Gramacita, along with a forthcoming novella based on my play, Gramacita. In June of 2024, my first book of poetry, The Pros and Cons of Dying, was released and debuted at #1 in the Amazon LGBTQ category. I am now an MFA student at Dominican University of California in San Rafael. My mission is to create work that celebrates the queer community, People of Color, and differently-abled bodied people through representation and collaboration. I am an Indigenous, Mexican, Punjabi, German, Two-Spirit, disabled writer living in Napa, California, with my boyfriend Armando and puppy, Momo.