E.J. Westlake is the author of Our Land is Made of Courage and Glory: Nationalist Performance in Nicaragua and Guatemala (2005, SIU Press) and co-editor of Political Performances: Theory and Practice (2009, Rodopi). Her articles on Central American nationalism and theatre have appeared in Latin American Theatre Review and Theatre InSight. Her article about the Ocho de Marzo women's theatre collective appeared in Lengel and Warren's Casting Gender (2005) and she her piece on the history of the Nicaraguan dance drama El Güegüence will be included in Theatre Historiography: Critical Questions (2010, U of M Press). Dr. Westlake also writes about community-based theatre, pedagogy, and public art. Her essays on the arrest of metal-fabricator Jason Sprinkle and her work on the performance of self on Facebook have appeared in TDR, her chapter on the Seattle Public Theatre’s work with homeless youth was published in Haedicke and Nellhaus' Performing Democracy (2001), and her article about theatre pedagogy was published in Youth Theatre Journal. Westlake is in the process of conducting research for a book on El Güegüence and is developing an article on the Billy the Kid exhumation controversy. She currently serves on the editorial board of Youth Theatre Journal.

Dr. Westlake has taught theatre history, dramatic literature, playwriting, directing, theatre pedagogy, and cultural anthropology. She is the advisor for the Bachelor of Theatre Arts program and is a faculty affiliate of the Center for World Performance Studies.

Westlake cofounded and managed Stark Raving Theatre in Portland, Oregon. She worked in Portland as a director and playwright and won the Oregon Book Award in 1992 for her play A.E.: The Disappearance and Death of Amelia Earhart.

She enjoys attending parades, festivals, memorials, baseball games, and other performative events.