Lauren Morelli

Born in Pittsburgh in the early 1980s, Lauren Morelli didn't start with aspirations of writing. From a young age, she dreamt of dancing, and that carried her all the way to Marymount Manhattan College where she studied the art in hopes of being a professional dancer. However, part of the way through her time at the school, Morelli hurt her back, abruptly ending any chance of a successful dance career. For a few years in her 20s, she was adrift, making attempts at teaching dance to others and a variety of entertainment-related odd jobs. She was encouraged by a former teacher to start up writing, so she did and it provided the follow-up to dancing she was searching for. What began as short stories soon became a full-time job as a writer for the Jenji Kohan-created television show "Orange Is The New Black" (Netflix 2013- ). She wrote numerous episodes of the show, garnering acclaim. During her time on "Orange Is The New Black," Morelli met Samira Wiley, the actress who played Poussey Washington on the show, and the pair married in 2017.