A. J. Bermudez

A. J. Bermudez is an American author, screenwriter, and director. Her short fiction and screenwriting have won a number of awards, including the PAGE International Screenwriting Award (iCON, 2021), and the Iowa Short Fiction Award (Stories No One Hopes Are About Them, University of Iowa Press, 2022). Her films have been produced in the U.S. and internationally, and her literary writing has appeared in McSweeney's, Virginia Quarterly Review, Story, Chicago Review, The Masters Review, Fiction International, Electric Literature, Boulevard, Creative Nonfiction, and elsewhere.

Personal life

Bermudez grew up in various parts of the United States, and after graduating high school at age 16, she moved to Russia, where she worked as a music translator and with the Afghan refugee population in Moscow. Prior to screenwriting, Bermudez worked as an EMT.

In interviews, Bermudez has talked about the loss of her parents at a young age, and has described "writing, like mourning, [as] a constant negotiation between the political and the personal."

Career Bermudez has been a vocal advocate of social justice and the arts. In 2019, she was named one of the Top 25 Screenwriters to Watch by the International Screenwriters Association. Her debut book was called a "must-read" by Publishers Weekly and was described by Anthony Marra as "an absolutely brilliant collection, so of the moment formally and politically yet timeless in its pursuit of human contradiction." As a writer, Bermudez's work has been noted to focus on "intersections of power, privilege, and place," with characters who subvert traditional ideas of literary protagonists.

In 2022, Bermudez was one of the inaugural resident artists of the Nawat Fes Residency in Fez, Morocco.

Bermudez co-wrote the film My Dead Friend Zoe, which premiered at South by Southwest in 2024, with director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes.

Awards and honors Year Work Accolade Result Ref

My Dead Friend Zoe South by Southwest Narrative Spotlight Award Winner

Stories No One Hopes Are About Them Lambda Literary Award Finalist

"The Real India" Pushcart Prize Winner

Self Steinbeck Fellowship Winner

"Picking the Wound" Best Small Fictions Nominee

Stories No One Hopes Are About Them Iowa Short Fiction Award Winner

iCON PAGE International Screenwriting Award Winner

"Octopus" Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship Finalist

Self Top 25 Screenwriters to Watch Selection

Nightingale Emerging Screenwriters Award Winner

The Face of the Earth Diverse Voices Award Winner