bio

Holly Yurth Richards is a playwright, composer, lyricist, novelist, performer, and teacher. 

 

Her musicals include TALE OF A GIRL (Applause Books; first production 2022 in NYC), EMPTY CHAIRS (formerly WELCOME TO ZION; multiple readings), POP! GOES THE BUBBLE (1st production 2017 in Salt Lake City), and CESSAIR (co-writing with Lolly Ward; first reading 2024 in Portland). Her plays include HANDWASH ONLY (2018 winner, That 24 Hr. Playwriting Competition), FADED GLORY (first production 2018 in San Diego), and ANIMALERICA. The first novel in The Seed Series, TAKE ROOT, is published by Octavo Publishing, with the second anticipated in 2025.

 

Holly's work was chosen to open the first ever ASCAP/Dramatists Guild Songwriters' Showcase in 2018. She was also a panelist at BroadwayCon in NYC that same year. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), Maestra Music, and LineStorm Playwrights. She holds a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon, and was the recipient of the Thomas A. Binford Scholarship for Writing from 2015-2018. She is a past grand prize winner in the Utah Young Writers @ Work Competition, and has received honors from both the League of Utah Writers and the Utah State Poetry Society. 

 

Apart from writing, Holly is an experienced vocalist and vocal/piano coach with 26 years of performance and teaching experience.