Edward L. Betz Jr.

Edward L. Betz Jr. is a playwright, novelist, and screenwriter whose work is rooted in his New Orleans neighborhood. Betz’s writing captures a world of territorial loyalty, "cursed" luck. A place where up was down and down was up long before the rest of the world caught up. In 1988, Only His Knees played in Edinburgh. Later, London and NY. David Wheeler would later workshop it with his students at Havard in 91.' "Losin' Mannie" (88') was translated into French by Gerard Roubichou in 93. Betz's text was used by Paris director Xavier Durringer in his play Murder In Mind. Xavier defined a new wave of French "street speech" (théâtre de proximité), proving that the soul of New Orleans—the "Missing Link" between the neighborhood bar and the stage—is a universal language. Betz’s literary universe is populated by "Blue Shirt" workers, "Missing Link" wanderers, and aging gangsters like Sal and Wine from "Who Shot the LaLa." His characters are often based on real-life New Orleans legends, such as Carlo, the owner of the infamous My-O-My and Lots-A-Luck, who ruled his domain with the same raw, unpredictable energy found in Betz’s prose. His extensive catalog of plays and screenplays includes: The New Orleans Cycle: Curses, Under the Train, Whitey, Breakin' Eggs, and Charlie’s Oyster. The Street Series: Only His Knees, Losin' Mannie, Moose, If It's Free and Without a Net. Save The Catfish The Meta-Noir: The Union, Who's Who Next, Devil In The Details, The Buffer, and Who Shot the LaLa. The Final Reckoning: The Unseen I and II, Try To Die, No Prisoners, The Last Step (a novel of Angola’s Death Row). With a recent surge in independent readership— 700 digital downloads for Under the Train in one day—Betz continues to document the "spirit" of the neutral ground. He remains a writer’s writer, a storyteller who doesn't just write about the street, but allows the street to speak for itself.