Julia Lee Barclay-Morton, Ph.D., is an award-winning writer and theater director, with plays and prose published and produced internationally. She was inducted into the Indie Theater Hall of Fame in 2014. Publications of her prose, plays and poetry are in such journals as Ohio Edit, NYTE, Pearson Prentice-Hall, Stockholm Review, The Other Stories, Burning House Press, Dandelion Review, and TL;DR. Her play Shit was chosen for the IATI 2018 play development program; and her newest play On the edge of/a cure is being produced by Rogue Players as a workshop/staged reading in May at The Playroom in NYC. Her book about her grandmothers, The Amazing True Imaginary Autobiography of Dick & Jani was long-listed for the Mslexia Prize in the UK. She was founding Artistic Director of Apocryphal Theatre in London, awarded a practice-as-research PhD at Northampton, UK in theatre as philosophy, and BA with High Honors in Theater from Wesleyan University (US). Having taught courses and workshops at multiple universities in the UK and NYC, she now works independently editing, coaching, and leading workshops and retreats for writers and performance makers. She blogs about writing, theater, art, philosophy, politics, and life at Somewhere in Transition.
Julia can help writers from their initial concept through to publication and/or production (in the case of a play/performance). She has experience as a professor, mentor, and development editor, working with writers to develop unwritten or raw material. She has experience copyediting large and small projects. In addition to her academic and creative writing expertise, she worked for 12 years as a legal secretary in international trademark and intellectual property law, so is a scrupulous proofreader with understanding of legal and contractual terminology.
As a New Yorker who received a Ph.D. in the UK, Julia is sensitive to the differences between British and American English. (Having made every conceivable language/tonal mistake while living as an expat in the UK for eight years, she can save you the embarrassment of being misunderstood on either side of the Atlantic). She has travelled, worked, and studied in many parts of the world, so brings a global perspective to both content and context of material that is intended for an international audience, including web content. In her travels she has decoded multiple forms of English as a Second Language. In her teaching at universities in NYC and London, she has worked successfully with ESL students of all ages to improve their writing.
In addition to our Editorial Services (as detailed in the Text and Edit sections of this site), Julia offers specialist writing and tutorial services:
Writing:
Below are categories in which I have professional experience and can provide expert, original writing:
- Articles (academic or popular)
- Blog posts (also social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
- Essays (literary or academic)
- Grant proposals
- Literary and Theater Criticism
- Marketing
- Plays/Performance Writing
- Professional (newsletters, reports, books)
- Prose (fiction, nonfiction, narrative, memoir - short to book-length)
- Research (original and/or summaries of your research materials)
Tutoring:
Academic & Professional Writing: My focus when teaching professional and academic writing, whether in my classes at Fordham or to individual students, is clarity and focus. My experience allows me to work easily with students of any nationality. I have written many successful grant applications and non-profit business proposals, most recently a successful crowd-funding campaign for my own book. I can share strategies and help you develop your writing in all of these areas.
Creative Writing: My focus when teaching creative writing, either to my classes or individuals, is to help you discover and embrace your own voice, wherever that may lead you - in terms of form or content. Because I have experience working in most forms, I can give guidance in a range of genres. If you are a beginner, I will teach you craft basics. If you are more experienced, my focus is on helping you clarify your goals and strategies for your current project and/or offer exercises that invite you to break into new territory. As someone who started her professional writing career writing for the stage and has expanded into prose, I am attentive to both the challenges and sheer excitement of shifting genres.
Writing & Devising for Performance: As an award-winning playwright and director with many years experience running theater companies and workshops internationally, I can give you tools to create performances from scratch and/or help you develop a play-text. Depending on your needs, this guidance can include private and public readings of work in progress and/or time in the studio. I can also work as a writer with you (or your ensemble, if you are devising a piece from scratch), or you can commission original text from me.