Michael Barnes

About Michael Barnes

I write about Austin\'s people, places, culture and history for the Austin American-Statesman and Austin360.comBorn in Texas, I grew up in Houston, graduated from Strake Jesuit College Prep (1972) and the University of Houston (1978), with a degree in drama and history. I moved to Austin in 1984 to pursue my doctorate in theater history and criticism (MA 1987, PhD 1993). Since 1989, I\'ve written for the Austin American-Statesman and other publications. I served three terms as chairman of the American Theatre Critics Association and co-founded the Austin Critics Table. I served on the Pulitzer Prize jury for criticism twice and have won numerous journalism awards, including the top writing prize from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (2001). I was named top specialty reporter by Headliners of Texas (2003).In 2013, I was inducted into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame. In 2014, the University of Texas and Texas Exes gave me the Community Leadership Circle Award for the LGBTQ community.In 2014, I received merit awards from Preservation Austin and the Travis County Historical Association. In 2015, my book,\"Indelible Austin: Selected Histories,\" was published by Waterloo Press. A second volume of collected columns,\"Indelible Austin: More Histories,\" came out in 2018.In 2016, I received the Liz Carpenter Lifetime Achievement Award from Women Communicators of Austin. In 2016 and 2017, readers of the Austin Chronicle weekly newspaper voted me Best Journalist in Austin. In 2018, the Association of Professional Fundraisers Austin Chapter selected me for its Special Recognition award. I have taught journalism and history at several Austin-area universities. I also conduct workshops on media relations. I mentor promising writers gratis.On the editing front, I shepherded XL, the newspaper\'s entertainment guide, for three years, then the movies and TV coverage for two years.

Experience

1. City Columnist

   Austin American-Statesman

   Jan 2008 — Present

   Reporting on Austin - Old and New - I cover people, places, culture and history for the Austin American-Statesman. I also write profiles, trend series and breaking news articles about Austin\'s arts, nonprofits and other aspects of daily life in the city.

Education

• University of Houston

  BA, Theater

  1972 — 1978

• The University of Texas at Austin

  PhD, Theater

  1984 — 1993

Skills

• Storytelling
• Film
• Newspapers
• Entertainment
• Public Relations
• Media Relations
• Television
• Publications
• Editing
• Journalism
• Blogging
• Feature Articles