POPULARITY
Award-winning playwright, author, and professor Sarah Ruhl discusses her playwriting philosophy and influences ranging from Ovid to Alice in Wonderland and beyond. Sarah shares her reluctance to categorize her plays and reveals how her theatre heart lives in the mix of comic and tragic modes; opens up about the origins of her popular version of Eurydice; discusses how she wants to put the "play" back in "playwriting;" expounds on her wonderful book, 100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write; graciously puts up with impertinent questions; and talks about her journey from poet to playwright, her discovery that plays can be three-dimensional poems, and her strong feeling that Chicago is her artistic home. (Length 15:30)
Today I talk about staying consistent in our writing practice even when life gets busy. I've been feeling motivated and inspired, but despite my best intentions, life has been intruding on my writing time. This has made for some rushed and unsatisfying writing sessions this month. So today I'm sharing what has been helpful creative process wise when it comes to writing when life gets in the way. Because I hope that my artistic self can still feel welcome in all seasons of life, even if the conditions are less than ideal. I cover:- Physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. - When to rest and when to persevere.- Asking 'Do I know what the next step is?' Followed by, 'Do I have everything I need to take the next step.'- Writing in less than favourable conditions. - Why taking smaller steps more often is more supportive than finding days for enormous progress.- Finding smaller pockets of time to create in.- Journaling on life's big themes when they're present in our life. - The inhale and exhale of a writing life.- Sarah Ruhl's wonderful words on why writing is more about life than it is about writing, and so life by definition is not an intrusion.- And finding what you can drop and where you can lower your standards, because there is magic in C-grade work.References '100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write' by Sarah Ruhl Episode 10: Creative Pace, Timing and PatienceTo learn more about my work, visit my website or connect with me on Instagram @emilysheehan__. If you're interested in working with me as your dramaturg then send me an email at emily@emilysheehan.info.
Sarah Ruhl is a playwright . Her plays include- How to Transcend a Happy Marriage; The Oldest Boy; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play (Pulitzer Prize finalist); The Clean House (Pulitzer Prize finalist, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize). Other plays include For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday; Stage Kiss; Dear Elizabeth; Passion Play, a cycle (PEN American Award, The Fourth Freedom Forum Playwriting Award from The Kennedy Center); Dead Man's Cell Phone (Helen Hayes Award); Melancholy Play; Eurydice; Orlando; and Late: a cowboy song. Her plays have been produced around the country and internationally, translated into fourteen languages. Her books include Smile, a memoir; 100 Essays I Don't have Time to Write and Love Poems in Quarantine. Opera: Libretto for Eurydice (Metropolitan Opera, composer Matthew Aucoin). Awards: MacArthur “Genius” Grant, Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, Helen Merrill Emerging Playwrights Award, Whiting Writers' Award, MacArthur Fellowship, Lily Award, PEN Center Award for a mid-career playwright. Education: M.F.A., Brown University (with Paula Vogel). Teaches at the Yale School of Drama. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this episode of Just the Right Book with Roxanne Coady, Sarah Ruhl joins Roxanne Coady to discuss her new book, Smile: The Story of a Face, out now from Simon & Schuster. Subscribe and download the episode, wherever you get your podcasts! ________________________________ Sarah Ruhl is a playwright and writer of other things. Her fifteen plays include In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play), The Clean House, and Eurydice. She has been a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Tony Award nominee, and the recipient of the MacArthur “genius” Fellowship. Her plays have been produced on- and off-Broadway, around the country, internationally, and have been translated into many languages. Her book 100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write was a New York Times Notable Book. Her other books include Letters from Max, with Max Ritvo, and 44 Poems for You. She has received the Steinberg Playwright Award, the Samuel French Award, Feminist Press Under 40 Award, the National Theater Conference Person of the Year Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, a Whiting Award, a Lily Award, and a PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award for mid-career playwrights. She teaches at the Yale School of Drama, and she lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Tony Charuvastra, who is a child psychiatrist, and her three children. You can read more about her work at SarahRuhlPlaywright.com. Roxanne Coady is owner of R.J. Julia, one of the leading independent booksellers in the United States, which—since 1990—has been a community resource not only for books, but for the exchange of ideas. In 1998, Coady founded Read To Grow, which provides books for newborns and children and encourages parents to read to their children from birth. RTG has distributed over 1.5 million books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On episode 68 of the podcast, author Kaitlyn Greenidge joins me to talk about freedom and Libertie. Kaitlyn’s debut novel was the critically acclaimed, We Love You, Charlie Freeman. Her writing has also appeared in Vogue, Glamour, the Wall Street Journal, Elle.com, Buzzfeed, and the Virginia Quarterly Review. She was a contributing editor for LENNY Letter, is currently a contributing writer for The New York Times and recently became the Features Director of Harper’s Bazaar magazine. I invited Kaitlyn to talk about her stunning new novel, Libertie, which was just released on March 30, 2021. Libertie is a coming-of-age story that begins in the second half of the 19th century in New York. It is about a free-born Black woman named Libertie Sampson, who is the dark-skinned daughter of a light-skinned mother, who also happens to be a doctor. Libertie’s mother raises her daughter expecting her to follow in her footsteps into medicine as well. But after the Civil War is fought and the promises of Reconstruction beckon, Libertie imagines a different future for herself. So, when the opportunity to move to Haiti - where Black people are truly free - comes up, she takes it. During our illuminating conversation, where I promise there are no spoilers about the novel, Kaitlyn shares the real story Liberite was inspired by; why she wanted to write Black historical fiction that wasn’t about Black exceptionalism; what she thinks freedom is; and why her female characters are so powerful. We also talk about the writing life; Kaitlyn explains why she doesn’t believe in writer's block, and why she doesn’t think writers should hide from real life. This is a wonderfully inspiring episode with a brilliant and down-to-earth author. I hope you love it. Literary Links from the Show To learn more about Kaitlyn Greenidge, visit her website. You can purchase Libertie on bookshop.org or Amazon. During the episode, Kaitlyn mentioned the book, 100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write by Sarah Ruhl. You might want to check it out. Both the Well Read Black Girl Book Club and Roxanne Gay have chosen Libertie as their May book read. Maybe you want to read along with them. If you loved this episode of the podcast, you might also love my interview with author Lauren Francis Scharma, whose historical novel, Book of the Little Axe, is also about a Black woman in search of true freedom. How to Support the Podcast Subscribe, rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. Share a link or our logo with your book-loving friends on social media. If you want to support the podcast financially, please shop for books on the My American Meltingpot online book store. Or you can leave me a tip via Pay Pal on the My American Meltingpot website. Thank you!
"Bella (Margo Martindale) is put in charge of the first ever government-funded National Women's Conference. Phyllis (Cate Blanchett) and her women clash over how to best disrupt the conference." -FX Margo Martindale as Bella Abzug (Courtesy of FX) From their COVID-19 bunker deep in the woods of Massachusetts, three sisters— a novelist, a historian and a playwright/professor— discuss the new FX mini-series Mrs. America. Through a Black feminist lens, Kaitlyn, Kerri and Kirsten Greenidge sort through the history referenced in the show and discuss why it's still relevant today. Please subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts and share on social so others can find the show too. Thanks for listening! Resources New Zine: Letter to the Anti-Rape Movement by Mariame Kaba, April 20, 2020 100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write: On Umbrellas and Sword Fights, Parades and Dogs, Fire Alarms, Children, and Theater by Sarah Ruhl Credits Featuring: Kaitlyn Greenidge, Kerri Greenidge and Kirsten Greenidge Produced, Edited & Mixed by: Beandrea July Music by: Jordan Balagot Clips, Photos: All Sole Property of FX #GreenidgeSisters
In this Repisode we talk with Sarah Ruhl, the playwright of BECKY NURSE OF SALEM, about what has changed in her thinking about the play as it has moved from development to the stage, and how current world events have permeated the play. Becky Nurse of Salem marks Sarah’s sixth production at Berkeley Rep; previous productions at Berkeley Rep include For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday, the West Coast premiere of Eurydice, the world premiere of In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), an adaptation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters, and the West Coast premiere of Dear Elizabeth. In the Next Room went on to Broadway, playing at Lyceum Theatre. Sarah’s other plays include The Oldest Boy, The Clean House, Passion Play, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Melancholy Play, Orlando, Late: a cowboy song, and Stage Kiss. Her plays have been seen off Broadway at Women’s Project Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage Theatre, and Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. Her select regional credits include Yale Repertory Theatre and the Goodman Theatre. Sarah received the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Whiting Award, the Lilly Award, a PEN Award, and the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Award. She has been a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and a Tony Award nominee. Her book of essays, 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write, was a New York Times notable book of the year. She teaches at Yale school of drama and lives in Brooklyn with her family. BECKY NURSE OF SALEM runs December 12 – January 26 and tickets are available at berkeleyrep.org. Follow Berkeley Rep on SoundCloud to keep up with the whole series. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Music credit to Peter Yonka.
Sharon sits down with playwright, Sarah Ruhl.Sarah is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and is currently on the faculty of the Yale School of Drama. She has been the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the Helen Merrill Emerging Playwrights Award, and the Whiting Writers’ Award. Sarah is the author of several books, including her collection of essays “100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write,” which was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2014, and “Letters from Max: A Book of Friendship” published in 2012.In this episode, Sharon and Sarah discuss the connection between creativity and practice at length. Sarah also reads from her book, discussing Metta (lovingkindness) Meditation, and Sharon’s childhood dream of writing a play!
Brea and Mallory talk about essays and essay collections and interview author Anne H. Donahue! Use the hashtag #ReadingGlassesPodcast to participate in online discussion! Email us at readingglassespodcast at gmail dot com! Reading Glasses Merch Links - Anne T. Donahue https://twitter.com/annetdonahue Nobody Cares by Anne T Donahue Reading Glasses Facebook Group Reading Glasses Goodreads Group Apex Magazine Page Advice Article Amazon Wish List Books Mentioned - Gods Monsters and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson Borderline by Mishell Baker Wicked by Gregory Maguire Grendel by John Gardner The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? By Mindy Kaling 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time To Write by Sarah Ruhl You Don’t Have to Like Me by Alida Nugent One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton Ctrl Alt Delete by Emma Gannon
Brea and Mallory talk about what to do with quotes from books. Use the hashtag #ReadingGlassesPodcast to participate in online discussion! Email us at readingglassespodcast at gmail dot com! Reading Glasses Merch Links - Reading Glasses Transcriptions on Gretta Reading Glasses Facebook Group Reading Glasses Goodreads Group Apex Magazine Page Advice Article Amazon Wish List Books Mentioned - 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time To Write by Sarah Ruhl The Wrong Way To Save Your Life by Megan Stielstra Too Fat Too Slutty Too Loud edited by Anne Helen Petersen Shallow Selfish and Self Absorbed edited by Meghan Daum Rookie Yearbook edited by Tavi Gevinson Luminescent Threads edited by Alexandra Pierce and Mimi Mondal Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris Whip Smart by Melissa Febos Stardust by Neil Gaiman Quote at the End from Doctors’ Stories by Kathryn Montgomery Hunter
Brea and Mallory talk about the wonder of the bookish Internet and interview author/illustrator Jonny Sun! Use the hashtag #ReadingGlassesPodcast to participate in online discussion! Email us at readingglassespodcast at gmail dot com! MaxFun Drive - http://maximumfun.org/donate Reading Glasses Tote Bags Links - Reading Glasses Transcriptions on Gretta Reading Glasses Facebook Group Reading Glasses Goodreads Group Apex Magazine Page Advice Article Amazon Wish List BookRiot The Rumpus Literary Hub Electric Literature BuzzFeed Books WattPad A Bookish Type Smart Bitches Trashy Books Epic Reads Publisher’s Weekly Jonny Sun Jonny's Twitter Get Jonny's book here or here. Clint Smith on Twitter Spritz Books Mentioned - All Summer Long by Hope Larson The Clasp by Sloane Crosley 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time To Write by Sarah Ruhl Hot Dog Taste Test by Lisa Hanawalt Twitter and Tear Gas by Zeynep Tufekci You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack by Tom Gauld
Poet Robin Beth Schaer reads from her collection, Shipbreaking, and playwright Sarah Ruhl reads essays from her book, 100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write: On Umbrellas and Sword Fights, Parades and Dogs, Fire Alarms, Children, and Theater. CatapultPodcast.com // @CatapultPodcast // The Trebuchet