LEMON ANDERSEN
POET, BRAND CREATIVE, PERFORMANCE ARTIST
ABOUT
Lemon Andersen is a Tony Award-winning playwright, poet, performance artist, youth empowerment activist, brand creative, and television writer.
His current production ALIENS has been commissioned by ASU Gammage and is slated for premiere in 2024. His previous play ToasT was commissioned by the Public Theater in New York City and developed by the Sundance Institute. Andersen’s performances and writing have been hosted in venues ranging from Theatre On The Square (San Francisco), Spoleto Festival (Charleston), Arts & Ideas Festival (New Haven), the Chicago Theatre, and the Kodak Theatre (Los Angeles). County Of Kings, Andersen’s coming-of-age autobiographical memoir produced by Spike Lee at the Public Theater, was met with critical acclaim by The New York Times and was awarded Grand Prize at the New York Book Festival. The television adaptation of his Broadway appearances on Def Poetry Jam ran for six seasons on HBO and earned Andersen a Tony Award. His book of poems, Straightrazor, was excerpted by actor and activist Hill Harper for his bestselling book Letters to an Incarcerated Brother.
TEDYouth invited Andersen to perform at their inaugural event, which was live streamed to 16 countries, and he has participated in the Sundance Institute’s Playwrights Retreat. As a guest instructor at Stella Adler Studio, Andersen developed the first spoken-word intensive to be offered at an actors’ conservatory. He leads student workshops and has performed at campuses and communities including University of Nebraska, University of Florida, University of Wisconsin, Syracuse University, UC Berkeley, and Harvard.
Marketing for premier brands and professional athletes seeking a unique cultural perspective is also a cornerstone of Andersen’s work, with clients including Google, Nike, Red Bull, Absolut, Boost Mobile, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Kobe Bryant. Andersen launched the LeBron James XIII “Akronite,” an elite basketball shoe and apparel line, with Daniel Bernard Roumain performing a live score to his poetry.
A native New Yorker, Andersen proudly represents Brooklyn.
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