Diamond’s plays include Smart People, Stick Fly, Voyeurs de Venus, The Bluest Eye, The Gift Horse, Harriet Jacobs and Stage Black.

Her year-long residency will begin Oct. 1 and will provide her with a salary, health benefits, local housing, a development budget to be used at her discretion to cover collaborator fees, workshop costs and research expenses to support the creation of her plays. She also receives a commitment from Arena Stage to produce her work and cultivate an ongoing, long-term relationship and support from institute dramaturg Jocelyn Clarke and director of artistic programming David Snider.

Diamond is co-vice president of the TCG Board of Directors, a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, a 2012 Sallie B. Goodman McCarter Fellow and a 2012-13 Radcliffe Institute Fellow. She has an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Pine Manor College.

"I intend to work on several projects including both plays and musicals, and am excited to be already underway with scheduling development workshops at the Mead Center with the resources to include several of my project collaborators and directors," Diamond said in a statement. "During my time in residency, I also look forward to finding ways to make myself accessible and contribute to the Arena Stage community."

Previous resident writers include Amy Freed, Katori Hall, Lisa Kron, Charles Randolph-Wright, Karen Zacarías and Samuel D. Hunter. For more information visit arenastage.org.