TyLie Shider is an American playwright, poet, and journalist who was born and raised in New Jersey and lives in Minneapolis.

TyLie was named the inaugural ArtYard Playwright Fellow in 2023 and was the inaugural playwright-in-residence at ArtYard in 2022. He is a two-time recipient of the Jerome Fellowship at the Playwrights’ Center and an I Am Soul playwright-in-residence at the National Black Theatre.

ArtYard Playwright Fellow

2023

The ArtYard Playwright Fellowship is a professional opportunity that recognizes and supports merit as well as the professional status of a mid-career playwright who demonstrates a sustained and consistent body of work. It is intended to help stabilize and accelerate the career of a mid-career playwright.

TyLie will spend nine months in residency at ArtYard developing new work, working closely with ArtYard artistic and technical staff and Guest Theatre Curator Deonté Griffin-Quick. In addition to housing and rehearsal space, Tylie will receive a $20,000 stipend and $8,000 play development budget to workshop new plays with professional dramaturgs and actors. He will also offer public engagements such as workshops or public readings, culminating in a final showcase later this fall.

Whittier

May 2022

TyLie hosted a staged reading of his contemporary docudrama Whittier at ArtYard in May, at the end of his month-long residency as inaugural playwright in residence.

Whittier is a contemporary docudrama that follows a diverse community of neighbors quarantined in Whittier, Minneapolis, days after the murder of George Floyd. This multimedia docudrama is inspired by the graffiti, lawn signs, and murals created in protest of Floyd’s murder. The piece is adapted from focus groups, interviews, and small talks the playwright conducted with neighbors, small business owners, and community leaders of faith during the 2020 uprisings in his neighborhood.

You can read a conversation TyLie had with Whittier director Andrew Binger and producer Deonte Griffin Quick about Whittier that appeared in American Theatre Magazine and hear him on the Jersey Arts podcast.

Photo at top is by Hollis King