Kelly Jo Burke

Kelly Jo Burke is a cultural tour de force whose work as dramaturge, actor, radio producer, teacher, editor and award-winning playwright has enriched the city of Regina, the province of Saskatchewan and the nation.

Ms. Burke’s theatre career started with Manitoba Theatre Workshop, but it was her work with CBC Radio, as host, curator, and sometimes producer of SoundXchange that brought her to Regina. During her time with SoundXchange she championed audio drama, producing, directing and/or dramaturging over 350 plays and literary arts feature productions. She also wrote several plays for broadcast including Had a Great Fall, Crack! Jane’s Thumb, Virtual.luv and Big Ocean.

In 1990 she wrote Goddessness for Michele Sereda and Paula Costain, who co-founded Regina’s Curtain Razors. She continued to write plays for the company, including Fat Girls (wear all sizes), Special, and Ducks on the Moon (about her “evolving” relationship with her autistic son, in which she has performing “herself”; it was the subject of a CBC IDEAS documentary). In 1992, Charming and Rose: True Love premiered at Nightwood Theatre and was subsequently published and produced by professional companies and universities across the country, the US and Europe. Dancing Sky Theatre in Meacham, SK have premiered several of Ms. Burke’s plays including The Selkie Wife (2008), Somewhere (2013), The Lucky Ones (2015) and The Curst (2023). In total she has written at least twenty-two radio and stage plays, almost all professionally produced and many published. Along with numerous poetry and short stories, her output also includes writing a directing radio documentaries for CBC’s IDEAS.

In 2009 she received the Saskatchewan Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for Leadership in the Arts, in 2023 the City of Regina Writing Award (for the fourth time), Charming and Rose: True Love was nominated for Chalmers and Dora awards for outstanding new play, and The Selkie Wife received the 2008 Saskatoon and Area Theatre Award for Playwriting. She is an alumna of the University of Regina, having received her MFA in 2013.

Kelly Jo is a model of what it means to be a cultural citizen. She is a past president of the Saskatchewan Playwrights’ Centre, has served as a board member on the Saskatchewan Arts Board (not to mention sitting on many SAB juries), as well as having sat on the executive of the Playwrights’ Guild of Canada.