A successful playwright whose play, ANOTHER BONE, was a Finalist at both The O’Neill and Ashland New Plays Festival, Cathy Earnest holds a bachelor of arts in music from Elmhust College in Elmhurst, Illinois, and a master of arts in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She also studied music (among other subjects) at the Institute of European Studies at the University of Vienna in Austria. As a professional playwright, Cathy Earnest gained admittance to the 2-year Senior Network Playwright program at the playhouse and theatrical development organization Chicago Dramatists. This exclusive program accepted only five other playwrights in its 2012/2013 class.

In addition to writing plays, Ms. Earnest taught writing and literature for more than 15 years at institutions of higher learning such as her University of Illinois alma mater, DePaul University, DeVry University, Columbia College, Truman College, and Northern Illinois University. She has also given a range of private music lessons.