Pearl Cleage
The purpose of my writing, often, is to express the point where racism and sexism meet." An accomplished playwright, journalist, poet, and novelist, Pearl Cleage probes issues of race, sex, and love in a growing body of literary work while she reveals poignant truths about brave black women. An Atlanta-based writer, her works include five novels, a dozen plays, two books of essays, two books of poetry, and ten years of newspaper columns.Cleage has drawn national attention with her dramatic plays including Flyin' West, an extraordinary play about pioneer black women at the turn of the century, and Blues for an Alabama Sky. Her first novel, What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day, was an Oprah's Book Club selection, a New York Times bestseller, and a BCALA Literary Award winner. Her novel, Some Things I Thought I’d Never Do, was a Good Morning America pick, while her current book, Baby Brother's Blues, was the first selection of the Essence Magazine Book Club. She is also the author of I Wish I Had a Red Dress, Mad at Miles, and Deals with the Devil.
Chicago's Eclipse Theatre Company has chosen Cleage as their featured playwright for 2007, presenting her works exclusively for their entire season. Recently honored by Oprah Winfrey as part of her “Legends Weekend” as an African American women of distinction, Cleage and her poem “We Speak Your Names” was the celebration's centerpiece.
Chosen by Spelman College as one of their Cosby Chairs in the Humanities, Cleage is currently teaching at the college. Her newest work, a one act play titled A Song for Coretta, premiered in 2006 and is scheduled to tour in 2008. Cleage frequently collaborates with her husband, Zaron W. Burnett, Jr., with whom she recently wrote a performance piece, The Love Project, commissioned by San Francisco's Cultural Odyssey and scheduled to open at the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta in 2007. Her upcoming novel, Seen It All and Done the Rest, will be released in 2008.