Jo Harvey Allen is a Lubbock-born-and-raised actress, playwright, poet, and pioneer of women in radio. Lauded as a “storyteller in the best Texas tradition” (LA Weekly) and as having “elicited comparisons with Flannery O’ Connor” (New York Times), Allen is best known for her numerous film roles and critically acclaimed one-woman shows.

Her co-starring film roles include Fried Green Tomatoes, and David Byrne’s cult classic True Stories, and appeared in Tommy Lee Jones’ The Homesman (2024 Cannes Film Festival). She often collaborates with her husband artist and musician Terry Allen, both appearing in Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-nominated film Killers of the Flower Moon.

Her photographs, video installations, and acclaimed one-woman shows have been performed and exhibited throughout the US and abroad. She is a recipient of Art Matters and NEA Fellowships and inducted into the WEST TEXAS HALL OF FAME in 2015.