Camille Simone Thomas has a presence, a self assured spirit that is wise beyond her years. As a child she interviewed the elders of her church for a self published magazine. A courageous choice for the budding artist. Today that combination of courage and curiosity has led her into collecting the stories of her family members, and retelling the lives of women and communities generations before her own. On today’s episode, Lebene sits down with playwright, poet, producer, performer, and educator Camille Simone Thomas to discuss her life as writer, where she finds inspiration for her work, the beauty of an artistic community and how to embrace rejection. We’ll also get the chance to listen to clips from past projects including her latest play Sweet Blood.

With Guest: Camille Simone Thomas is a 5th generation African-American Detroiter through her father’s side and a first generation Jamaican through her mothers. It’s important for her to name this because her work most often interrogates cultural legacies, familial healing, spirituality + ancestral wisdom, and the general kicking and screaming of how Black folks get free despite the oppressive forces of colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacy.

She’s a multi-hyphenate playwright producer - performer - educator - facilitator. Her plays have been workshopped and performed Off-Broadway The Connelly Theatre, MCC, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Sanguine Theatre Company, Blackboard Playwriting series, Lime Arts Theatre company, American Slavery Project, The Obie Award-winning Harlem9 and Detroit Public Theatre Company, Dixon Place, Workshop Theatre, Barter Theatre Company, The National Women's Theatre Festival, The Brick, and more! She was a 2023 Broadway Advocacy Coalition Artivism fellow. A 2024 finalist for the Eugene O’neill NPC for her play “At God’s Back”. A 2023 New Harmony Project finalist, 2023 Hedgebrook Writers retreat finalist, 2023 Catskills Creative Residency finalist. She was in the 2024/2025 Civilians R&D Group, 2024/25 Artistic Research Fellow at The Folger in DC, was most recently the 2024/25 JACKLabs Artist. Up next she will be doing a writers retreat with Hedgebrook. She works as a teaching artist for Partnership With Children, Dreamyard, Manhattan Theatre Club, and The Apollo.