Jo Salas

Jo Salas, a New Zealand-born writer living in New York's Hudson Valley, writes fiction and nonfiction. Her second novel, MRS. LOWE-PORTER, based on the life of Thomas Mann's translator, was published in February 2024 by JackLeg Press. BookTrib says: “A captivating biographical novel… with Mrs. Lowe-Porter, Jo Salas has achieved the writing triumph that her never-met but vividly imagined grandmother-in-law hoped to write…a magnificent literary achievement.”

Jo Salas’s first novel DANCING WITH DIANA was published in 2015 by Codhill Press--the story of a young man in a wheelchair who dances with the future Princess Diana when they're both fifteen years old. Her published short stories include the Pushcart Prize-nominated "After” in the anthology Facing the Change: Personal Encounters with Global Warming. She is now working on a short story collection.

The co-founder of Playback Theatre, Jo has also written extensively about this original form of theatre for community dialogue and change. Her books include Improvising Real Life: Personal Story in Playback Theatre (translated into 10 languages); Do My Story, Sing My Song: Music Therapy and Playback Theatre with Troubled; Half of My Heart/La Mitad de Mi Corazón: True Stories Told by Immigrants (edited with Leslie Gauna), and Personal Stories in Public Spaces: Essays on Playback Theatre by Its Founders (with Jonathan Fox).