New American
Civil War
Civil wars start somewhere. Has the new American Civil War begun at an isolated farmhouse two miles from the Village of Heritage?
Two city men are walking home through the woods to their rented farmhouse when their militant neighbor’s dog attacks them. The confrontation escalates—first with the slashing of all four tires on their car, then the throwing of a Molotov cocktail at their house, and on to other terrifying attacks.
Will they live to see the dawn as the dog attack spirals into a neighborhood feud, eventually erupting into a full-blown civil war that engulfs the entire nation? From an acorn grows a mighty oak—yet even an oak tree cannot stand divided against itself.
About the Author
Frederick Kirwin graduated from Florida State University with a BA in History and International Affairs and an MA in Government. He passed the preliminary examinations for the PhD program in Government, received a teaching fellowship, and co-authored a scholarly article with Richard Gray, PhD, titled “Presidential Succession in Chile: 1817– 1966,” published in the Journal of Inter-American Studies (January 1969). He later withdrew from the program to accept a Shubert Fellowship in Theatre, earning an MFA in Playwriting.
His published works include Confessions of a Drowning Man (an epic poem), Songs Of the Garden of Delights (poetry), Body Carnal (poetry), Body Sacred (poetry), Talking About Diana's Death (a non-puff parody), Billy and Dakota (a love story), Dog Bites Man (a thriller), Past Love, Praise, Indifference, Blame (a play).
Production of his plays includes Billy (Playwrights Horizons, NYC); Swan Dive (Playwrights Horizons, NYC); Dog Bites Man (Marlborough Theatre, Brighton, UK, and later at the Rock Theatre, Brighton, U.K.); The Lottery (Tristan Bates Theatre, Covent Garden, London, UK, and later at Fox Theatre, London, UK); Talking about Diana (King's Head Theatre, London, UK, and later at the Camden People's Theatre, London, UK).
Kirwin is the recipient of The Dramatists Guild Fund Award and five Edward Albee Foundation Fellowships, and he served as Playwright-in- Residence at the North Carolina School of the Arts. His screenplay for the film, Dog Bites Man, received ten Best Script Awards.
