Biography of Arthur Melville Pearson

Arthur Melville Pearson has received several honors for his stage plays and screenplays. Most recently, his screenplay Michael's Menagerie was one of 10 finalists in the Illinois/Chicago Screenwriting Competition. In 1999, he was awarded an Illinois Arts Council fellowship in playwriting/screenwriting, and was a finalist for the prestigious Chesterfield Film Company Fellowship. His stage play Cairowas awarded first place in the first Midwestern Playwright's Festival and given its premiere in 1985 at Toledo Rep in Ohio. Mr. Pearson has published short fiction and creative non-fiction in a variety of literary magazines, including Snowy Egret andAlligator Juniper. He is a founder of the Midewin Writers Society, a group of writers devoted to the advancement of nature writing related to the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie and the Midwestern landscape, for the purpose of promoting a healing relationship between human beings and the natural environment. Among Mr. Pearson's current projects is the restoration of his home in the National Historic Landmark community of Pullman, located on the far southeast side of Chicago.