Sharon Bridgforth
Biography
Raised by Southern parents in South Central Los Angeles, Bridgforth lived in Austin, Texas, from 1989 to 2009, where she developed her artistic practice as a writer, performer, and activist. Her work draws on African-American Southern migration stories, Black language, blues, jazz, ancestry, and community memory.
Her performance and literary career includes the bull-jean stories (1998), love conjure/blues (2004), River See (2014), and dat Black Mermaid Man Lady (2018). Her work has been presented at New York's SummerStage Festival, Links Hall in Chicago, Pillsbury House + Theatre in Minneapolis, and the University of Texas at Austin. She is an Associate Company Member at Pillsbury House + Theatre and is based in Inglewood, California.
Bridgforth is a 2023 United States Artists Fellow and a 2022 winner of Yale's Windham Campbell Prize in Drama. She was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2025. Her book before you go: an Offering was released in August 2025 by Tripwire Harlot Press.
BQW Impact
Bridgforth is a significant figure in Black lesbian and queer cultural production. Her work centers Black queer lives, Black Southern histories, gender, sexuality, ancestry, migration, and community, using theatrical jazz and other performance forms to preserve and reimagine cultural memory.
Her influence extends through her contributions to Black queer literary and artistic communities. Her writing has appeared in Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought, Does Your Mama Know?: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Coming Out Stories, First Person Queer, Spirited: Affirming the Soul and Black Gay/Lesbian Identity, and other Black queer and feminist collections. Her work has also been examined in scholarship on theatrical jazz, Black lesbian literature, queer memory, and African-American performance.
Notable Works
the bull-jean stories (1998)
Bridgforth's Lambda Literary Award-winning work centered on bull-dog-jean, a Black woman-loving-woman whose story connects love, survival, memory, and Black Southern history.
love conjure/blues (2004)
A performance novel combining Black Southern storytelling, blues, poetry, oral history, and theatrical performance. An excerpt appears in Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought.
River See (2014)
A theatrical jazz work that premiered at Links Hall in Chicago and explores African-American migration through the story of a young woman preparing to be sent North. The script was published in Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora.
dat Black Mermaid Man Lady (2018)
A multidisciplinary work encompassing performance, a performance novel, installation, oracle deck, and community project. The show premiered in Minneapolis and the performance installation premiered in Austin.
bull-jean & dem/dey back (2022)
A continuation of the bull-jean body of work, published by 53rd State Press and produced by Pillsbury House + Theatre in Minneapolis.
before you go: an Offering (2025)
A book combining memories, prayers, letters, dreams, and journaling prompts to explore a daughter's relationship with her aging mother, grief, healing, and intergenerational love.
Learn More
Ford's profile and information on Dreams in Nightmares, including the film's festival presentation and creator biography.
Interview with Ford about Dreams in Nightmares, Black queer life, chosen family, and their filmmaking influences.
Professional biography documenting Ford's background, education, screenplay work, and Test Pattern.
Ford's writing and perspective on chosen family and queer community, alongside discussion of Test Pattern.