Colin Teevan was born in Dublin. His original stage plays include: Iph... (1999, Lyric Theatre, Belfast); Svejk adapted from the novel by Jaroslav Hasek, (Gate Theatre, London, 1999); The Walls, (2001 NT Cottesloe Stage) directed by Mick Gordon; Monkey, adapted from the ancient Chinese legends of the Magic Monkey King, (2000, The Young Vic) directed by Mick Gordon. His plays for radio include Iph... (R3 2000) and Tricycles (R3 The Wire, 2001) and, most recently, the epic verse monologues The RoyKeaneiad Parts 1 and 2.

Colin has translated works from Ancient Greek, Italian and French, including Marathon from Edoardo Erba's play, directed by Mick Gordon, and Cuckoos from Giuseppe Manfridi's play, directed by Peter Hall, both at the Gate Theatre and Barbican Theatre, London. He translated Euripides' Bacchai (2002) directed by Peter Hall and scored by Harrison Birtwistle. He was the Production Dramaturg and Associate Director on Peter Hall's Tantalus (RSC and DCPA co production). Both Bacchai and Tantalus came to Newcastle.

In 1997, he was appointed Writer-In-Residence at Queen's University Belfast, where he subsequently founded the Drama degree. In 2002 he was ScreenEast Writing Fellow at UEA. All his work is published by Oberon Books. He is North East Literary Fellow at the Universities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Durham from October 2003 for two years.

Speaking of his appointment, Colin said: "New writing for the stage has often struggled to bridge the gap between the local and the national, given that the theatre community in this country is so based around the capital. This opportunity will enable me to work with those writers who are attempting to bridge that gap. As North East Literary Fellow I will focus primarily on the craft and profile of playwriting and scriptwriting in the region. I also intend the Fellowship to buy me the time to realise several projects in opera, theatre and film and to work with the theatre practitioners in the region and see my work produced here."