CONWAY, Ark. (February 25, 2020) — “Naomi
Wallace is a powerful and essential voice who brings to the theater great
lyricism and moral courage.” —American Academy of Arts and Letters
Naomi Wallace will visit
Hendrix College as a Murphy Visiting Playwright on March 5, 2020. She will read
from and discuss her work at 7:30 p.m. in Reves Recital Hall. This event is free and open to the public and
will be followed by a reception and book signing in Trieschmann Gallery.
For
over 20 years, Naomi Wallace has pioneered a daring mix of political and
mystical imagery in plays that confront the present through a wholly unique
magical realism, winning her numerous awards nationally and internationally. Wallace’s
numerous plays—which have been produced in the United Kingdom, Europe, the
United States, and the Middle East—include In
the Heart of America, Slaughter City,
One Flea Spare, and The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek. She is
also the author of a book of poetry, To
Dance a Stony Field, and several essays, as well as an anthology entitled Inside/Outside: Six Plays from Palestine and
the Diaspora.
In
2009, One Flea Spare was incorporated
into the permanent repertoire of the French National Theater, the Comédie-
Francaise, making Wallace the only living American playwright to enter the
repertoire. In addition to this monumental honor, Wallace is the recipient of several
prestigious awards including the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Fellowship of
Southern Writers Drama Award, and an Obie award. She is also a recipient of the
MacArthur Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts development grant
and an Arts and Letters Award in Literature.
Wallace
holds degrees from Hampshire College and the University of Iowa. She has taught
English literature, poetry, and playwriting at Yale University, UCLA, Vrije
University of Amsterdam, and other institutions. She has also worked with women
in the criminal justice system and is a member of SURJ, Showing Up for Racial
Justice. Currently, she divides her time between Kentucky and the Yorkshire
Dales in Northern England.
In
addition to her public reading and book signing, Wallace will be visiting theatre
classes at Hendrix College to discuss with students the process of transforming
an idea into a fully realized stage production. She will be speaking to
students about careers in theatre and paths to success as well as offering
advice for young creatives in a professional world.
This event is sponsored by the
Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language, which are
designed to enhance and enrich the study and teaching of literature and
language at Hendrix College. For more information about this and future events,
please contact Henryetta Vanaman, 501-450-4597 or vanaman@hendrix.edu.