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Wednesday, April 16, 2008Suzan-Lori Parks
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
An Evening with Suzan-Lori Parks
Dominique de Menil Lecture
Suzan-Lori Parks credits her writing teacher and mentor, James Baldwin, with starting her on the path of playwriting. One of the first to recognize Parks’ writing skills, Baldwin declared Parks “an astonishing and beautiful creature who may become one of the most valuable artists of our time.” His words were prophetic: Parks is not only a MacArthur “Genius” Award recipient but also the first African-American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for drama.
But if you expect her to give a typical writer-behind-the-podium lecture, think again. Her talks, often called by audiences ”the Suzan-Lori Parks show,” are part performance, part storytelling and always high energy with an inspired sense of humor. Parks — who also has written the much acclaimed novel “Getting Mother’s Body” and numerous stage plays, as well as screenplays for Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, Spike Lee and Denzel Washington — will read from her work, discuss how art can be a force for positive world change and maybe even offer on-the-spot writing workshop-style advice for aspiring artists of all ages.
So, spend an evening with one of Time Magazine’s “100 Innovators for the Next New Wave” as she tells stories from her adventures in the world of writing, from opening her Pulitzer Prize-winning “Topdog/Underdog” on Broadway to launching her “365 Days/365 Plays” in more than 700 theaters worldwide, creating one of the largest grassroots collaborations in theatre history. Her “lecture” just might get your party started.
