David Mura is a poet, creative nonfiction writer, critic, playwright and performance artist whose work in the field of diversity and multiculturalism reflects depth and meaning. A third generation Japanese American, Mura authored Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei, which won a 1991 Josephine Miles Book Award and was listed as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His second memoir was released in 1996 under the title, Where the Body Meets Memory: An Odyssey of Race, Sexuality and Identity.

Mura performs with African American writer Alexs Pate in Secret Colors, a multi-media performance they co-created about their lives as men of color and Asian American-African American relations. After premiering at the Walker Art Center, it has been presented at various venues throughout the country. PBS included a film adaptation of this piece, titled Slowly This, in its 1995 Alive TV Series. Mura's stage adaptation of Li-young Lee's memoir, The Winged Seed, premiered at The Pangea World Theater in 1997.

Mura's poems have appeared in such journals as The New Republic, The American Poetry Review, The Nation, The New England Review, and Crazyhorse. He has written essays on race and multiculturalism for publications including The New York Times, Mother Jones, The Utne Reader, Racism Explained to My Daughter, and The Graywood Annual V: Multi-Cultural Literacy.

Mura has served as the Artistic Director of the Asian American Renaissance, an Asian American arts organization located in Minnesota. He is also an Artist Associate at the Pangea World Theater. Mura has served as the Board President of the Jerome Foundation, The Loft, and the Center for Arts Criticism. Some of Mura's awards include a Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers Award, a US/Japan Creative Artist Fellowship, two Bush Foundation Fellowships and a McKnight Advancement Grant for playwrighting from the Playwrights' Center.

Non-Fiction Authors, Playwriting, Authors, Diversity, Asia, For Diversity Events, Diversity Topics, Artists, Writing, Literary, Culture