Pearl Cleage

Pearl Cleage
Born (1948-12-07) December 7, 1948
Springfield, Massachusetts, United States
Occupation Novelist, Essayist, Playwright, Poet
Nationality American
Genre African American literature
Notable works What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day, Wish I Had a Red Dress, We Speak Your Names
Website
www.pearlcleage.net

Pearl Cleage (born December 7, 1948) is an African American author whose work, both fiction and non-fiction, has been widely recognized. Her novel What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day was a 1998 Oprah Book Club selection. Cleage is known for her feminist views, particularly regarding her identity as an African American woman. Cleage teaches drama at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia and is the Playwright in Residence at the Alliance Theatre.

Early life and career

Pearl Cleage was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, the daughter of Doris Cleage (née Graham), a teacher, and the late civil rights activist Bishop Albert Cleage. After backlash resulting from her father's radical teachings, the family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where Bishop Cleage became a prominent civil rights leader. Cleage first attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1966 majoring in playwriting and dramatic literature. However she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to attend Spelman College in 1969, where she attained a bachelor's degree in drama in 1971. She then joined the Spelman faculty as a writer and playwright in residence and as a creative director.[1][2][3] Cleage has written many novels, plays, and non-fiction works borrowing heavily from her life experiences. Many of her novels are set in neighborhoods in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 2013, Cleage became the Playwright in Residence at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia through the National Playwright Residency Program funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by HowlRound.[4] The initial three-year term was renewed for an additional three years in 2016.[5][6] Cleage is documenting her residency with frequent writings in the HowlRound journal.[7]

Cleage notably writes about topics at the intersection of sexism and racism, specifically on issues such as domestic violence and rape in the black community.[8] She has been a supporter of the Obama administration.[1] Cleage is an activist for AIDS and women's rights, experiences from which she draws from for her writings.[2]

Personal life

In 1969, Cleage married Michael Lomax, an Atlanta politician and past-president of Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. They had a daughter, Deignan Njeri. The marriage ended in divorce in 1979.[2] In 1994, Cleage married Zaron Burnett, Jr, writer and director for the Just Us Theater Company. She has four grandchildren.[9]

Cleage is a former Cosby Endowed Chair professor at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She also speaks at colleges, universities, and conferences on topics including domestic violence, the citizen's role in a participatory democracy, and writing topics.[10]

Awards

  • 2013 Theatre Legend Award - Atlanta Black Theatre Festival
  • 1983 Five AUDELCO Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway, 1983
  • 2010 Sankofa Freedom Award

Works

Novels

  • The Brass Bed and Other Stories (1991; ISBN 0-88378-127-1)
  • What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day (1997; ISBN 0-380-97584-X)
  • I Wish I Had a Red Dress (2001; ISBN 0-694-52418-2)
  • Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do (2003; ISBN 0-345-45606-8)
  • Babylon Sisters: A Novel (2005; ISBN 0-345-45609-2)
  • Baby Brother's Blues (2006; ISBN 0-345-48110-0)
  • Seen It All and Done the Rest (2008; ISBN 0-345-48113-5)
  • Till You Hear From Me (2010; ISBN 0-345-50637-5)
  • Just Wanna Testify (2011; ISBN 0-345-50636-7)

Plays

  • Flyin' West (1995; ISBN 0-8222-1465-2)
  • Blues for an Alabama Sky (1999; ISBN 0-8222-1634-5)
  • Bourbon at the Border (2006; ISBN 0-8222-2075-X)
  • We Speak Your Names: A Celebration, with Zaron W. Burnett (2006; ISBN 0-7861-7442-0)
  • A Song for Coretta, (2008; ISBN 978-0-8222-2239-2)
  • What I Learned in Paris

Chain

Non-fiction

  • Mad at Miles: A Black Woman's Guide to Truth (1990; ISBN 0-9628142-0-2)
  • Deals with the Devil and Other Reasons to Riot (1993; ISBN 0-345-38278-1)
  • Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons and Love Affairs (2014; ISBN 978-1451664690)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 McKanic, Arlene (May 31, 2010). "Pearl Cleage Talks Prose and Politics". The Root. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Seese, June Akers. "Pearl Cleage". The New Georgia Encyclopedia. A project of the Georgia Humanities Council, in partnership with the University of Georgia Press, the University System of Georgia/GALILEO, and the Office of the Governor. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  3. ↑ "Pearle Cleage Biography". Film Reference: Theatre, Film, and Television Biographies. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  4. ↑ Desk, BWW News. "Alliance Theatre Receives Grant from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  5. ↑ "The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and HowlRound Announce $5.58 Million in Grants through the National Playwright Residency Program". mellon.org. 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  6. ↑ "Residencies". HowlRound. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  7. ↑ "Pearl Cleage". HowlRound. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  8. ↑ Cleage, Pearl (1994). Deals with the Devil and Other Reasons to Riot. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-38871-2.
  9. ↑ "Pearl's World: About Pearl". Pearl's Professional Website. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  10. ↑ "Appearances". Pearl Cleage's Professional Website. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
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