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Open Book / Open Mind Onine: Quiara Alegría Hudes

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes in conversation about her new memoir with Elena Martinez of the Bronx Music Heritage Center. Virtual audience Q&A to follow. REGISTER SOON

Join us for another top author conversation, followed by a virtual audience Q&A.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Best known for writing Pulitzer Prize-winning book for the musical "In the Heights," Quiara Alegría Hudes describes herself as "a playwright, wife and mother of two, barrio feminist and native of West Philly." Hailed for her work’s exuberance, intellectual rigor, and rich imagination, her plays and musicals have been performed around the world. Hudes is a playwright in residence at Signature Theater in New York, and Profile Theatre in Portland, Oregon, dedicated its 2017 season to producing her work. She recently founded a crowd-sourced testimonial project, "Emancipated Stories," that seeks to put a personal face on mass incarceration by having inmates share one page of their life story with the world. "My Broken Language" is her first memoir.

ABOUT THE BOOK

"A Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright presents a tender yet defiant tale about finding strength in one’s roots. In this elegant and moving memoir, Hudes begins with her upbringing in Puerto Rico and Philadelphia, examining the complexities involved in negotiating two distinct worlds early on....[A]s members of her family fell ill or became victims of violence, Hudes realized the significance of acknowledging the power of their stories and the importance of maintaining familial bonds and traditions."—Kirkus Reviews

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Elena Martínez has been a folklorist at City Lore in New York City since 1997 and is also currently the Co-Artistic Director of the Bronx Music Heritage Center. She co-produced the documentary, From Mambo to Hip Hop: A South Bronx Tale, which aired on PBS in 2006 and won the National Council of La Raza's 2007 ALMA Award for Best TV Documentary. She is also a producer for the documentary, We Like It Like That: The Story of Latin Boogaloo which premiered at the SXSW Festival. Elena curated the traveling exhibitions, “¡Que bonita bandera!: The Puerto Rican Flag as Folk Art” and "Las Tres Hermanas: Art & Activism." 
 
 
 

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