I am honored to have been asked to join a wonderful conversation between playwrights in HowlRound on creating spaces where women of color can be supported!
EXCERPT:
“Karen Evans’ comment in the interview, “I don’t think I’m going to be part of this party, ever,” made me think of talented authors such as Julia Alvarez (How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent) and Edwidge Danticat (The Farming of Bones) not being allowed in the boys club. In 2008 Junot Diaz won a Pulitzer, which put us “writers of color” on the map. However, when we measure the volume of work put out by the two accomplished women writers I mentioned above, yes, they are winning some book awards, but not a Pulitzer Prize. Why is this? I certainly credit Junot with being a great writer, however so are Danticat and Alvarez.
In October 2006, six women met in my cozy one-bedroom apartment in Harlem and seven years later we have over three-hundred members in the group.
Many of the group members have gone on to self-publish books such as Nancy Arroyo-Ruffin’s Welcome To Heartbreak. Meriam Rodriguez’s Adelina’s Perfect Girl, and Peggy Robles-Alvarado’s Conversations With My Skin. There are others who have gone on to write plays, and who have become performance artists—for example writer, poet, and actor J.F. Seary.”
The Writer and The Story 