Nice to meet you...

David Scott Hay (DSH) buys more books than he can read. (sometimes just owning the story is enough)

He is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and novelist; hailed by the Chicago Sun-Times as a new generation Albee-Mamet-Shepard. (“hailed” is a strong word, but it was a very nice review of one of my plays).

DSH’s screenplay adaptation of his play HARD SCRAMBLED* won Creative Screenwriting Magazine's New Visions Filmmaking Fellowship enabling him to direct the indie feature film starring Kurtwood Smith (That 70s Show, RoboCop). The film held its premiere at the Cinequest San Jose Film Festival (2006) and went on to win Best Dramatic Feature at the Garden State Film Festival. (great night. previous night was even better, rockabilly at Asbury Lanes)

He has been a finalist to quarterfinalist in the Nicholl, Scriptapalooza, and Final Draft Big Break screenwriting competitions with his screenplays, AWOL Blues, Snow Dragon, and Straight Razor Jazz. He is the recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Finalist Award and Special Screenwriting Grant. (where I adapted, produced and directed a horrible short film)

As a playwright, DSH wrote the critically acclaimed plays HARD SCRAMBLED, CELESTE, [THE] VIOLENT SEX, and KILLING LUCIFER amongst dozens of assorted productions and staged readings. He is also the co-writer of the Civil Rights play THE MARKER with David Barr III and Glenn Jeffers. And the co-writer on THE FACE OF EMMETT TILL also with David Barr III.

DSH, The Fountain, Brooklyn Book Festival

DSH was also the co-founder and Literary Director for the Chicago theatre company Visions & Voices where he co-produced new work including the critically acclaimed ACCIDENTAL RAPTURE, [the] VIOLENT SEX, and VINTAGE RED & THE DUST OF THE ROAD. (yes, indeed. amazing scripts, amazing productions). Fast forward seven years and WBEZ in Chicago named the VR & DOTR the number 2 production of the decade, right behind a Pulitzer winner. (that was a warm fuzzy)

He's twice served as a Playwright in Residence at the world-renowned William Inge Center for the Arts and was a Guest Lecturer at Grambling State and the Newberry Library. (I did not get shhh’ed) He was a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists, and then with the Vet Art Project and Warrior Art Studio where he worked with veterans tell their stories. (semper fi)

DSH then decided on grad school and an MFA, just to shake things up. (a vacation would have been cheaper) He was Contributing Editor for the former Digital Americana Magazine and wrote essays on baseball, space exploration, the craft of writing, and Superman’s day job.

His self-released novel Fall: The Last Testament of Lucifer Morningstar was an Amazon best seller.

The Fountain was his small press publishing debut. It received a starred review from Kirkus: “A passionate meditation on art wrapped in a hilarious sendup of artistic pretensions.” It is currently in its third printing and has also been translated into Russian and released there in early 2023. (holy shit)

His follow-up novel [NSFW], also received a Kirkus starred review: “A potential cult classic that all but demands a second read.” [NSFW] was listed by Tor.com as one of the most anticipated novels of 2023 and made Dennis Cooper's Top Fiction of 2023 and was recently named a Top 100 Indie Book of the 21st Century by Genrepunk Magazine. (no, really)

The book was also picked up for Russian translation, but due to censorship laws, was deemed too controversial and was preemptively banned. Instead, [NSFW] will be released in Russian in the surrounding countries late 2025. (hold onto your hats)

He is EIC of Whisk(e)y Tit's upcoming horror imprint, Headless. (stay tuned)

He is a full/active member and volunteer for the SFWA and HWA.

He is not nearly as pretentious as this bio makes him sound. (most days)

He lost the tip of a finger in chop-saw incident. (buy me an N/A beer and you'll get that story in person)

*You can watch HARD SCRAMBLED for free on Amazon Prime.