Byron Woods is celebrating his 18th year as an award-winning arts journalist and critic in the Triangle. In addition to his work as contributing editor at the Independent, he has covered the area’s theater and dance for regional publications including Raleigh’s News & Observer and Triangle.Citysearch.com, and national publications including Back Stage, Dance Magazine, Danceinsider.com, InTheater and the Village Voice. A recipient of two NEA fellowships in arts criticism and a National Critics Institute scholarship at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Woods has been honored by the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies and the NC Press Association, and has served as a five-time guest critic and clinician in various regions of the Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festival.