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WORK TITLE: The Truth of Right Now
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.karaleecorthron.com/
CITY: New York
STATE: NY
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://www.karaleecorthron.com/bio.html * http://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Kara-Lee-Corthron/527455724
RESEARCHER NOTES:
Title: Ms.
Email:laurie@sll.comLC (Laure Liss)
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/no2012158583
HEADING: Corthron, Kara Lee
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372 __ |a Drama |2 lcsh
374 __ |a African American women authors |2 lcsh
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670 __ |a Etched in skin on a sunlit night, c2012: |b t.p. (Kara Lee Corthron)
670 __ |a Simon & Schuster, Inc., March 15, 2017 |b (Kara Lee Corthron is an award-winning New York City based playwright; a Julliard alumna, she is an instructor at Primary Stages’ Einhorn School of Performing Arts and has taught at the MFA and BFA playwriting programs at Ohio University, NYU-Tisch, Rutgers, and Spalding University) |u http://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Kara-Lee-Corthron/527455724
PERSONAL EDUCATION:
University of Maryland, B.A.; the Julliard School, artist’s diploma; New York University, M.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, playwright, television writer, novelist, and educator.
2014-2015 Naked Angels/New School Issues Project Resident Playwright,
is an instructor at Primary Stages’ Einhorn School of Performing Arts and has taught at the MFA and BFA playwriting programs at Ohio University, NYU-Tisch, Rutgers, and Spalding University.
instructor at Primary Stages’ Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA) and Gotham Writers Workshop; served as visiting professor in the MFA & BFA playwriting programs at Ohio University, Temple University, and NYU-Playwrights Horizons Theater School and has guest taught at various institutions including NYU-Tisch, Rutgers, and Spalding University
Also residencies at Skriðuklaustur (Iceland), Djerassi, Hawthornden (Scotland), the Millay Colony, and Ledig House, and Fulcrum Theater (a company Kara helped launch with its inaugural production) received a 2013 Obie Grant.
Commissions include South Coast Rep, New Georges, Playwrights Horizons Theater School, InterAct, E.S.T./Sloan, and Naked Angels.
Her work has been sometimes produced and mostly developed at places like the African Continuum Theatre (DC), Ars Nova, Atlantic Theater Company, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Berkeley Rep, CenterStage (Baltimore), Contemporary American Theater Festival, the Director Collective, Electric Pear, E.S.T., Haulbowline Theatre Group (Cork, Ireland), Horizon Theatre (Atlanta), the Kennedy Center, Labyrinth, Lost Girls Theatre (Miami), Midtown Direct Rep, Naked Angels, New Dramatists, New Georges, New Yocrk Theatre Workshop, The Orchard Project, Page 73, Penumbra, PlayPenn Conference (2010), The Shalimar, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference (Guest Artist, 2012), South Coast Rep, TheatreWorks (Palo Alto), the Vineyard Theatre, Voice & Vision, and the Women’s Project.
Also cofounder of ‘Wright On! Playwrights Group
MEMBER:Dramatists Guild, Writers Guild of America.
AWARDS:Obie Grant, 2013; Women’s Project Lab Time Warner Foundation Fellowship, 2012-14; Bogliasco Foundation Residency, 2016; the Princess Grace Award, National Endowment for the Arts grants (two); the Helen Merrill Award; Lecomte du Nouy Prize (three), the Lincoln Center; the Theodore Ward Prize; the New Professional Theatre Writers Award; MacDowell fellowships (four).
WRITINGS
Also author of the plays Listen for the Light, Know Theatre of Cincinnati, OH; AliceGraceAnon. New Georges, New York, NY; Holly Down in Heaven, Forum Theatre, Washington DC area; Etched in Skin on a Sunlit Night,InterAct Theatre, Philadelphia, PA; Julius by Design, Fulcrum Theater, New York, NY; Time and a Half, Electric Persephone in the Scorpion’s Den, Spookwater, and Welcome to Fear City. Coauthor of the play The Architecture of Becoming, c. 2017 Also writer for the television series Kings, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), 2008-09.
SIDELIGHTS
Kara Lee Corthron is a playwright and novelist who also wrote for the television series Kings. Her sister, Kia Corthron, is also a playwright. Corthron grew up admiring her sister but, nevertheless, “resisted becoming a playwright for a long time,” as Corthron noted in an interview for the Works by Women Web site. For a while, Corthron thought about a career in dancing and then pursued acting for several years. Corthron eventually beging to dabble in writing roles she would have liked to play and then graduated to performance texts. “It didn’t take long for me to figure out that writing plays just felt most natural to me,” Corthron noted in the interview for Works by Women Web site.
Despite her subsequent success in writing plays, Corthron had always wanted to write a novel ever since she first read at the age of eight a book by Judy Blume. Corthron began writing novels in 2004 but received numerous rejection letters from publishers. Nevertheless, she persevered and her first young-adult (YA) novel, The Truth of Right Now, was published in 2017. Commenting on focusing on The Truth of Right Now as a novel and not a play, Corthron noted in a Broadway World Web site interview: “Some of the most important moments in the book come from the characters’ interior narratives… I wanted this story to live in the world in a quieter, more intimate way.”
The Truth of Right Now tells the story of two isolated teens who find each other. Lily has returned to her high-class Manhattan prep school. However, Lily, who tried to commit suicide at the end of her sophomore year, is extremely unhappy. The sicide incident has led to loss of friendships or an overprotective, pitying attitude toward her. Meanwhile, Dariomauritius, known as Dari, is an artistic transfer student who’s seems to care little for attending classes or for being around his abusive Trinidadian father.
Dari is immediately attracted to Lily, who he realizes is more sensitive than most teenagers. Meanwhile, Lily finds that Dari is the only classmate who does not seem to factor in her attempted suicide in how he acts toward her. As the story switches between Lily, who speaks in the first person, and Dari, whose story is told in the third person, readers learn that Lily and Dari both come from broken homes and seek a companionship neither their parents or friends can provide. “Their conversations about family, race and their difficult backgrounds light up the pages,” wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called both narrations “realistically profane … enabling the author to build two richly nuanced protagonists whose voices are so heartbreakingly authentic.”
According to Corthron, the novel’s inspiration came from the book Basquiat: A Quick Killing in Art by Phoebe Hoban. The book told the story of the life of neo-expressionist painter Jean-Michel Basquiat, which led to Corthron making Dari an artist and the story began to take shape. Corthron noted in the Broadway World Web site interview that the book’s ending came to her in a dream. The Truth Right Now was also inspired by certain trends Corthron had seen in the news and, as she noted in an interview for the CBC Diversity Web site: “I wanted to address some of the ugly issues that teens face from their perspectives and without the distance of a news headline.”
The plot’s “focus on racial injustice becomes the most powerful of the novel’s subplots,” wrote Diane Colson in Booklist. Sarah Weber, writing for BookPage, called The Truth Right Not “at once a touching romance and a poignant coming-of-age story,” noting that Corthron addresses issues “from sexual assault to domestic abuse to systemic racism.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, November 1, 2016, Diane Colson, review of The Truth of Right Now, p. 55.
BookPage, January, 2017, Sarah Weber, review of The Truth of Right Now, p. 28.
Kirkus Reviews, Nov. 1, 2016, review of The Truth of Right Now.
Publishers Weekly, October 31, 2016, review of The Truth of Right Now, p. 79.
ONLINE
Broadway World, https://www.broadwayworld.com/ (June 19, 2017), “CATF Playwright Kara Lee Corthron Set for Signing at Four Seasons Books.”
CBC Diversity, http://www.cbcdiversity.com/ (September 10, 2017), “Industry Q&A with Author Kara Lee Corthron.”
Gotham Writers Workshop Web site, https://www.writingclasses.com/ (September 210, 2017), author profile.
Kara Lee Corthron Web site, http://www.karaleecorthron.com (September 10, 2017).
New Play Exchange, https://newplayexchange.org/ (September 10, 2011), author career bio.
Playbill Online, http://www.playbill.com/ (April 40, 2010), Ernio Hernandez, “Kara Lee Corthron Named Paula Vogel Playwriting Award Winner.”
Samuel French Web site, http://www.samuelfrench.com/ (September 10, 2017), brief author profile.
Works by Women, https://worksbywomen.wordpress.com/ (September 10, 2011), “Interview: Kara Lee Corthron.”
Kara Lee Corthron
Bio
Plays
Teach/Consult
Press
Contact
Blog
Kara Lee Corthron is an NYC-based playwright and young adult fiction author. Her full-length plays include Listen for the Light (Know Theatre of Cincinnati, spring 2017), AliceGraceAnon (New Georges), Holly Down in Heaven (Forum Theatre, DC area), Etched in Skin on a Sunlit Night (InterAct Theatre, Philadelphia), Julius by Design (Fulcrum Theater), Time and a Half, Electric Persephone in the Scorpion's Den, Spookwater, and Welcome to Fear City (Kilroys' List 2016). Kara is also the author of the young adult novels, The Truth of Right Now from Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse, January 3rd, 2017 and Daughters of Jubilation also from Simon Pulse, publication date TBA. With cartoonist, Shawn Ferreyra, she's collaborating on a graphic novel, currently called We Are the Shining Lights.
Picture
Because I was once four-years-old.
Awards: member of New Dramatists (class of 2022), 2016 Bogliasco Foundation Residency, 2014-2015 Naked Angels/New School Issues Project Resident Playwright, Boomerang Fund for Artists Grant, 2012-2014 Women’s Project Lab Time Warner Foundation Fellowship, The Vineyard Theatre’s 3rd Annual Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, the Princess Grace Award, two NEA grants, the Helen Merrill Award, Lincoln Center’s Lecomte du Nouy Prize (three-time recipient), the Theodore Ward Prize, the New Professional Theatre Writers Award, four MacDowell fellowships, residencies at Skriðuklaustur (Iceland), Djerassi, Hawthornden (Scotland), the Millay Colony, and Ledig House, and Fulcrum Theater (a company Kara helped launch with its inaugural production) received a 2013 Obie Grant. Commissions include South Coast Rep, New Georges, Playwrights Horizons Theater School, InterAct, E.S.T./Sloan, and Naked Angels.
Her work has been sometimes produced and mostly developed at places like the African Continuum Theatre (DC), Ars Nova, Atlantic Theater Company, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Berkeley Rep, CenterStage (Baltimore), Contemporary American Theater Festival, the Director Collective, Electric Pear, E.S.T., Haulbowline Theatre Group (Cork, Ireland), Horizon Theatre (Atlanta), the Kennedy Center, Labyrinth, Lost Girls Theatre (Miami), Midtown Direct Rep, Naked Angels, New Dramatists, New Georges, New York Theatre Workshop, The Orchard Project, Page 73, Penumbra, PlayPenn Conference (2010), The Shalimar, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference (Guest Artist, 2012), South Coast Rep, TheatreWorks (Palo Alto), the Vineyard Theatre, Voice & Vision, and the Women’s Project. TV: writer for NBC’s KINGS (2008-2009).
Picture
I feel strongly that the most important syllable in the word “playwriting” is the first one. Despite the difficulties that are an inescapable part of this wild career, when my work feels like true play, I’m glad that I decided to follow this path.
Kara is an instructor at Primary Stages’ Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA) and Gotham Writers Workshop; served as visiting professor in the MFA & BFA playwriting programs at Ohio University, Temple University, and NYU-Playwrights Horizons Theater School and has guest taught at various institutions including NYU-Tisch, Rutgers, and Spalding University. Juilliard alumna, New Georges Affiliated Artist, and member of Interstate 73 (2007-2008), the Ars Nova Play Group (2010-2011), ‘Wright On! Playwrights Group (co-founder), Blue Roses Productions, the Dramatists Guild and the Writers Guild of America.
Kara Lee Corthron
Kara Lee Corthron is an award-winning New York City based playwright. A Julliard alumna, she is an instructor at Primary Stages’ Einhorn School of Performing Arts and has taught at the MFA and BFA playwriting programs at Ohio University, NYU-Tisch, Rutgers, and Spalding University.
CATF Playwright Kara Lee Corthron Set for Signing at Four Seasons Books
by BWW News Desk Jun. 19, 2017
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CATF Playwright Kara Lee Corthron Set for Signing at Four Seasons BooksFour Seasons Books in Shepherdstown will host a book signing by award-winning playwright and author Kara Lee Corthron on June 24th at 1pm. Corthron is the playwright of Welcome to Fear City¸ receiving its world premiere at the Contemporary American Theater Festival this July.
Corthron will read sections and autograph copies of her recently published young adult novel, The Truth of Right Now. The book will be available for purchase at Four Seasons Books the day of the event.
Kirkus Reviews declared The Truth of Right Now "a powerhouse of storytelling that feels timely and timeless." Corthron chronicles the journey of two teenagers exploring tough issues, such as navigating high school social circles and family dynamics, and more unsettling topics such as mental health and suicide.
Although Corthron is primary a playwright, she knew this story was meant to be told in another form. "I always wanted to write a novel and I've always wanted to write for this age group... The Truth of Right Now isn't meant to be a play." She goes on to emphasize the difference between experiencing a story on stage; with sets, lights, costumes, actors, and other audience members, versus the intimacy and solitude of reading. "Some of the most important moments in the book come from the characters' interior narratives... I wanted this story to live in the world in a quieter, more intimate way."
The inspiration for The Truth of Right Now came from another book, Basquiat: A Quick Killing in Art by Phoebe Hoban, based on the life of Neo-Expressionist Jean-Michel Basquiat. After running away from home, Basquiat lived in a series of temporary homes. "I was struck by one of these [living] situations... a middle class co-dependent white mother and daughter and a young black man with his own baggage-it stayed with me because it didn't feel cliché." Corthron eventually realized her protagonist was also a visual artists and the rest of the story started to fall into place. She confesses "The climax of the book literally came to me in a dream, but I don't tell anyone about that until after they've read it."
Kara Lee Cothron's writing awards include: the Princess Grace Award, the Helen Merrill Award, and the Theodore Ward Prize. In addition to Welcome to Fear City, her plays include: AliceGraceAnon, Holly Down in Heaven, and Listen for Light.
For more information about Kara Lee Corthron's book signing, contact Four Seasons Books at 304-876-3486 or 4seasons@citlink.net. Four Seasons Books is located at 116 W. German Street, Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
For more information about Welcome to Fear City and the Contemporary American Theater Festival, visit catf.org or call 304-876-3473.
Kara Lee Corthron
Kara Lee Corthron
Kara Lee Corthron is an NYC-based playwright. Her full-length plays include Julius by Design (Fulcrum Theater), Etched in Skin on a Sunlit Night (InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia), AliceGraceAnon (New Georges), Holly Down in Heaven (Forum Theatre in DC area), Spookwater, Listen for the Light, and Welcome to Fear City. Awards: Boomerang Fund for Artists Grant, Berkeley Rep 2014 Ground Floor Lab Residency, 2012-2014 Women’s Project Lab Time Warner Foundation Fellowship, The Vineyard Theatre’s 3rd Annual Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, the Princess Grace Award, two NEA grants, the Helen Merrill Award, Lincoln Center’s Lecomte du Nouy Prize (three-time recipient), the Theodore Ward Prize, the New Professional Theatre Writers Award, three MacDowell fellowships, residencies at Skriðuklaustur (Iceland), Djerassi, Hawthornden (Scotland), the Millay Colony, and Ledig House, and Fulcrum Theater (a company Kara helped launch with its inaugural production) received a 2013 Obie Grant. Commissions include South Coast Rep, New Georges, InterAct, E.S.T./Sloan, and Naked Angels. Her work has been produced and/or developed at the African Continuum Theatre (DC), Ars Nova, Berkeley Rep, CenterStage (Baltimore), Electric Pear, E.S.T., Haulbowline Theatre Group (Cork, Ireland), Horizon Theatre (Atlanta), the Kennedy Center, Midtown Direct Rep, Naked Angels, New Dramatists, New Georges, New York Theatre Workshop, The Orchard Project, Page 73, Penumbra, PlayPenn Conference (2010), The Shalimar, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference (Guest Artist, 2012), South Coast Rep, TheatreWorks (Palo Alto), the Vineyard Theatre, Voice & Vision, and the Women’s Project. TV: writer for NBC’s Kings (2008-2009). Recently, Kara wrote a young adult novel. She is an instructor at Primary Stages’ Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA), served as visiting professor in the MFA & BFA playwriting programs at Ohio University and has guest taught at various institutions including NYU-Tisch, Rutgers, and Spalding University. Juilliard alumna, New Georges Affiliated Artist, and member of Interstate 73 (2007-2008), the Ars Nova Play Group (2010-2011), ‘Wright On! Playwrights Group (co-founder), Blue Roses Productions, the Dramatists Guild and the Writers Guild of America.
Kara Lee Corthron
Kara Lee Corthron’s plays include ALICEGRACEANON (New Georges); HOLLY DOWN IN HEAVEN (Forum Theatre, DC area); LISTEN FOR THE LIGHT (Know Theatre of Cincinnati); JULIUS BY DESIGN, and WELCOME TO FEAR CITY (Kilroys’ List 2016, CATF 2017). Kara is also the author of the young-adult novel THE TRUTH OF RIGHT NOW available now from Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse. Awards/Honors: member of New Dramatists (class of 2022), 2014-2015 Naked Angels/New School Issues Project Resident Playwright, Boomerang Fund for Artists Grant, Berkeley Rep 2014 Ground Floor Lab Residency, 2012-2014 Women’s Project Lab Time Warner Foundation Fellowship, The Vineyard Theatre’s 3rd Annual Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, the Princess Grace Award, two NEA grants, the Helen Merrill Award, Lincoln Center’s Lecomte du Nouy Prize (three-time recipient), the Theodore Ward Prize, the New Professional Theatre Writers Award, four MacDowell fellowships, residencies at Skriðuklaustur (Iceland), Djerassi, Hawthornden (Scotland), the Millay Colony, and Ledig House, and Fulcrum Theater (a company Kara helped launch with its inaugural production) received a 2013 Obie Grant. Her work has been sometimes produced and mostly developed at places like the African Continuum Theatre (DC), Ars Nova, Atlantic Theater Company, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Berkeley Rep, CenterStage (Baltimore), Electric Pear, EST, Haulbowline Theatre Group (Cork, Ireland), Horizon Theatre (Atlanta), the Kennedy Center, LAByrinth, Midtown Direct Rep, Naked Angels, New Dramatists, New Georges, The Orchard Project, P73, Penumbra, PlayPenn, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference (Guest Artist, 2012), South Coast Rep, TheatreWorks (Palo Alto), the Vineyard Theatre, Voice & Vision, and the Women’s Project. TV: writer for NBC’s “Kings” (2008-2009). She has taught at various institutions including Primary Stages Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA), Ohio University, NYU-Tisch, Playwrights Horizons Theatre School, and Temple University. Juilliard alumna, New Georges Affiliated Artist, and member of Interstate 73 (2007-2008), the Ars Nova Play Group (2010-2011), ‘Wright On! Playwrights Group (co-founder), the Dramatists Guild, and the Writers Guild of America. *Photo credit: Jody Christopherson for Necessary Exposure: The Female Playwright Project.*
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Kara Lee Corthron
Kara Lee Corthron
Kara Lee Corthron was a staff writer for the TV series Kings (NBC). She is a resident playwright at New Dramatists, and her produced plays include: Welcome to Fear City (Contemporary American Theatre Festival), Listen for the Light (Know Theatre of Cincinnati), Julius by Design (Fulcrum Theater), Etched in Skin on a Sunlit Night, (InterAct Theatre Company, Philadelphia), AliceGraceAnon (New Georges), and Holly Down in Heaven (Forum Theatre, DC). She is also the author of the novel The Truth of Right Now (Simon & Schuster). She has taught at the Einhorn School of Performing Arts, Ohio University, and TheaterLab. She holds a BA from the University of Maryland, an Artist’s Diploma from the Julliard School (where she was also a playwright in residence), and an MA in Playwriting, Directing, and Performance Studies from NYU.
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Kia Corthron
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kia Corthron
Born May 13, 1961
Cumberland, Maryland
Occupation Playwright, television writer, novelist
Nationality American
Kia Corthron (born May 13, 1961) is an American playwright, activist, television writer, and novelist.
Contents [hide]
1 Biography
2 Television writing career
3 Humanitarian efforts
4 Awards and honors
5 References
6 External links
Biography[edit]
Kia Corthron was born on May 13, 1961, in Cumberland, Maryland. Corthron's father worked at a paper mill in the area and died at the age of 51 from an aneurysm while working at the mill. Growing up in the mostly white, industrial town, Corthron discovered her passion for writing early on. Corthron has credited her second grade teacher, Mrs. Proudfoot, as being the person who first encouraged her to write. She persisted to create dialogues out of a need for entertainment while her older sister was at school.
Corthron is the second of three sisters. Her younger sister, Kara Corthron, is a playwright and novelist.[1]
Corthron attended the University of Maryland for an undergraduate degree in communications and film. Even though she had been writing for years, it was not until the last semester of her senior year that she first turned on to writing plays. During a creative writing class, Corthon was assigned a group project of creating a play.[citation needed] She worked on the play for the entire semester, revising and reworking the text, which concluded in a final performance. The plot dealt with a returning Vietnam veteran and his sister, but the success of the short piece was not the plot, it was the impact the play had on the classroom audience. She told the Theater Development Fund's periodical, Sightlines, "When it came time to do scenes from our plays, I was embarrassed when mine lasted 30 minutes when everyone else's was only five (they were all supposed to be five), but I was soon gratified when the lights came up and I saw how my writing affected the other students."
Affecting audiences was something that energized Corthron. This was also something which drove her to hone her craft as a playwright. After graduating, Corthron was chosen for a one-year workshop with George Washington University playwright Lonnie Garter. Under the direction of Garter, Corthron applied to the Master of Fine Arts program at Columbia University. Corthron was accepted and attended Columbia where she studied under professors such as Howard Stein, Glenn Young, and Lavonne Mueller. Upon graduation in 1992, Corthron began writing plays and was granted a commission from the Goodman Theater in Chicago to write the play Seeking the Genesis, a piece dealing with parents drugging their children with Ritalin and the proposed government drugging of urban youth to prevent violence.[2]
Since her graduation, Corthron has received commissions for workshops, readings, and productions throughout the country. Her work has garnered critical and audience acclaim.[citation needed] Beginning with the commission from Chicago's Goodman Theatre, she has gone on to receive many other commissions for plays.[citation needed] Among Corthron's commissions are commissions from the Royal Court Theatre in London, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Atlantic Theatre Company, the Manhattan Theatre Club, the Mark Taper Forum, the Public Media Foundation, the Children's Theatre Company, and National Public Radio with The Public Theater.[3] She has developed her work through numerous reputable workshops including the National Playwrights Conference, the Sundance retreat at Ucross, the Hedgebrook writer's retreat, the Audrey Skirball-Kenis Theatre Project, the Shenandoah International Playwrights Retreat, Intiman Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre, Crossroads Theatre Company's Genesis Festival, The Public Theater's New Work Now! Festival, Voice and Vision, and the Circle Rep Lab.[4]
Most of Corthron's work revolves around socio-political issues. The themes of her work have encompassed many issues found in newspapers. For instance, her work Force Continuum from 2000 dealt with the issue of police brutality. Her shorter piece Safe Box centered on an industry that dumped cancer-causing chemicals into the air and water. Her two-act drama Glimpse of the Ephemeral Dot dealt with veterans' issues. Life by Asphyxiation takes an anti-death-penalty stance.[5] In other plays, she has examined the land mine issue, female gangs, prisons, capital punishment, youth violence, and disability.[citation needed]
With the commissions, works, and impact of Corthron's work, she has acquired many awards, including the Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award, the Mark Taper Forum's Fadiman Award, NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights, a Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, the New Professional Theatre Playwriting Award, the Callaway Award, a Van Lier Fellowship, and was Delaware Theatre Company's first Connections contest winner.[6]
Corthron's latest play, A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick, received its world premiere production by Playwrights Horizons and The Play Company in March and April 2010 at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater in New York City. The play concerns Abebe, an African preacher-in-training who arrives in a drought-stricken rural American town intending to further his studies in religion and water conservation. Hosted by a mother and daughter haunted by tragedy, he takes an interest in a young orphan starved for guidance – all the while maintaining an infectious optimism in the face of his obstacles. Undaunted, Abebe determines to battle – by any means necessary – the personal and political forces that threaten the ecology of his new home.
Corthron's first novel, The Castle Cross the Magnet Carter, was published by Seven Stories Press in January 2016.[7][8] It won the 2016 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.[9]
Television writing career[edit]
Corthron's first TV credit was for an episode of the 2004 series, The Jury called Lamentation on the Reservation.[10] In 2006 she wrote an episode of The Wire's fourth season entitled "Know Your Place" which earned her Writers Guild Outstanding Drama Series Award and an Edgar Award.[11][12]
Humanitarian efforts[edit]
In 2002 Corthron traveled with five other playwrights to Palestine, visiting theaters on the West Bank and Gaza. She was one of nine American playwrights selected by Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater for a special world travel/play commissioning grant.[citation needed] With their aid, In 2004, Kia chose to traveled to Liberia while the country was recovering from its civil war, and has since been working with the theater on her play, Tap the Leopard, chronicling the historical relationship connecting the U.S. and Liberia, from the initial tensions between immigrant American free blacks and the majority native population in the 19th century through the strife of the late 20th and 21st centuries.
Awards and honors[edit]
2014 United States Artist (USA) Fellow in Theater October 2014; $50,000 unrestricted grant.,[13][14]
2014 Windham–Campbell Literature Prize (Drama), valued at $150,000 one of the largest prizes in the world of its kind.[15]
2016 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize $10,000 [16]
2017 MacDowell Colony Fellowship[17]
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Shea, Lisa. “Has Culture Finally Caught Up to Kia Corthron?”. Elle magazine. 8 January 2016.
Jump up ^ "Kia Corthron: A Playwright Who's Unafraid to Admit She's Political", February 4, 2001.
Jump up ^ "Alumni Playwrights", New Dramatists.
Jump up ^ http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Fall2003./kiacorthron.html
Jump up ^ Corthron, Kara Lee. "In Dialogue: Kia Corthron’s Cool Dip". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
Jump up ^ http://www.tdf.org/publications/sightlines/sightlines01fall.html
Jump up ^ Madeleine, "Sitting down with Kia Corthron" (interview), The Yale herald, September 26, 2014.
Jump up ^ The Castle Cross the Magnet Carter page at Seven Stories Press.
Jump up ^ "Congratulations to Kia Corthron for The Castle Cross the Magnet Carter | Winner of the 2016 First Novel Prize", The Center for Fiction.
Jump up ^ Johnson, Clark (2004-07-30), Lamentation on the Reservation, retrieved 2016-07-10
Jump up ^ Zakrzewski, Alex (2006-11-12), Know Your Place, retrieved 2016-07-10
Jump up ^ "An Interview with Kia Corthron, author of The Castle Cross The Magnet Carter". The University of Iowa. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
Jump up ^ "United States Artists Announces 2014 Fellows", Philanthropy News Digest, October 15, 2014.
Jump up ^ "2014 United States Artists Fellows Announced – Artists receive $50,000 unrestricted grants across 8 disciplines".
Jump up ^ "Prize Citation for Kia Corthron". Windham–Campbell Literature Prize. March 7, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
Jump up ^ "Prize Citation for Kia Corthron". Center for Fiction. December 7, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
Jump up ^ "MacDowell Fellowships Awarded to 74 Artists in Multiple Disciplines - The MacDowell Colony". macdow.convio.net. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
External links[edit]
Kia Corthron on IMDb
Kia Corthron at TV.com
Categories: 1961 birthsLiving peopleAmerican television writers20th-century American dramatists and playwrightsWriters from MarylandPeople from Cumberland, MarylandUniversity of Maryland, College Park alumniColumbia University School of the Arts alumni
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Interview: Kara Lee Corthron
Me in AdamsKara Lee Corthron is an award-winning playwright (the Princess Grace Award, the Helen Merrill Award, Lincoln Center’s Lecomte du Nouy Prize-three-time recipient, and the Theodore Ward Prize). Her amazing plays include Etched in Skin on a Sunlit Night (InterAct Theatre Company, Philadelphia) and AliceGraceAnon (New Georges). She is part of the Women’s Project Theater 2012-2014 Lab. The group of 15 theatermakers (five playwrights, 5 directors and 5 producers) have been commissioned to create a new play for WP’s season. The resulting piece–The Architecture of Becoming–begins performances next week at New York City Center.
Kara spoke with Works by Women about the collaborative process of creating The Architecture of Becoming, what residencies provide a playwright, and how exactly the ’90s film The Craft inspires her.
WORKS BY WOMEN: You are one of five writers on The Architecture of Becoming. Have you ever created a project in this manner before? Tell me about the process.
KARA LEE CORTHON: No, I have never created a piece of theater in this way before. It’s incredibly tricky and delicate. I feel like we had to invent our own process over this last year and we’re still learning. It may sound obvious, but the importance of communication when building a show with 13 people cannot be overstated. During our first intense workshop back in September, the playwrights immediately realized that even the smallest change one of us made could and often did impact other pieces in significant ways. Probably the best lesson I’ve learned is to let go of the idea that everyone can be happy at all times. Once I consciously had that thought (simple as it may seem) and embraced it, I found the process much easier to handle.
WBW: Your part of the play is set in 1977 when New York was a much different place than today. What excites you about that time period and the art that was created in it?
KLC: That era crackles with possibility, danger, and the unexpected. Living in this city today, it’s difficult to imagine a time when so few people wanted to live here and that which we would now consider prime real estate was dirt cheap and largely undesirable (i.e., most of the Village, the Upper West Side, Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, I could keep going). I don’t romanticize the era of shooting galleries and porn palaces in Times Square. But I do think there was a strange magic about the city then. It was understood that if you could survive it, you were a tough mofo with nerves of steel. There was also a weird pride in the air that comes from self-preservation. In 1975, The Daily News printed the now infamous headline: “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” Ford didn’t really say this, but his unwillingness to bail out the bankrupt city sent an ugly message. The city was essentially at the end of its fiscal rope, which skyrocketed poverty and crime, sending tourism into a serious decline. But the true-blue New Yorkers knew that this would always be home and that sense of abandonment from outsiders brought many together. Which may explain the sudden artistic boom that the city experienced in the late ’70s. Punk, hip-hop, no wave, street art moving into galleries, graffiti as self-expression. I could talk about this for days. In fact, I’m so obsessed with the era that I’m currently working on a full-length that also looks at early hip-hop and takes place in 1977—which might be my favorite year.
Etched2-Jules-Phyllis-JohnsonJonsi-Jered-McLeniganPhyllis Johnson and Jered McLenigan in Etched in Skin on a Sunlit Night at InterAct Theatre Company.
WBW: You’ve got a couple of residencies to look forward to this year (one in a Scottish castle). How important are these to developing your work? What will you work on during the residencies?
KLC: I don’t want to say they’re “vital,” because I can write without a residency and more often than not, I have to. But the opportunity to escape my normal routine is like getting a sudden injection of focus. Having space, time, and quiet—apart from all my other responsibilities as an adult—reminds me that despite the struggles, I love writing. Residencies get me back to the essence of what I do without all the other baggage that comes along with a career in the arts. I also adore meeting other artists, writers in other genres, visual artists, composers, interdisc, etc. Their work feeds me as an artist and as a human being.
In Scotland, I hope to complete a raw draft of the play I mentioned above. I’ll also probably do some rewrites on other projects. I’m planning to go to Djerassi (a residency outside of San Francisco) this summer, but I’m not exactly sure what I’ll be working on there yet.
WBW: What or who first inspired you to become a playwright? And why?
KLC: I resisted becoming a playwright for a long time. My sister, Kia Corthron, is a wonderful playwright who’s contributed many fine dramas to the American canon of dramatic literature. I grew up admiring her, but I honestly felt that playwriting was her career and that I should do something else. I briefly entertained the idea of being a modern dancer until I understood the physical discipline that would require. For a number of years, I pursued acting. But what finally shifted for me was the fact that I kept being called in to audition for terrible plays and terrible films. I was sick of reading sides thinking: “I could do so much better.” I first started writing roles that I wished someone would ask me to play. From there, I tried to write performance texts for myself. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that writing plays just felt most natural to me. In a way, playwriting kind of found me. So Kia and I are one of the few sets of playwriting sisters out there (I know of only one other set).
WBW: You’re also working on a novel. Can you spill a little bit about it or at least how you decided to write in that form?
KLC: I’ve always wanted to write a novel, a young adult novel specifically. When I say “always,” I mean that I read my first Judy Blume book when I was eight and immediately decided that I wanted to do that. My first attempt at this type of writing was back in 2004. At my very first residency, I finished the play I went there to write pretty quickly, and then I started writing a novel on a whim. I eventually sent the book to an editor and received the cruelest rejection letter of my life as thanks. Because I was young, I was crushed and assumed that I wasn’t meant to be a novelist. Nine years later and countless rejections later (though not as cruel, I have to say), I felt like I was ready to try it again. And it’s been a delightful experience! I’m currently somewhere between drafts 2.5 and three, but we’ll see what happens. I’m optimistic…for now.
WBW: What are the challenges facing women in American theater?
KLC: Access is a huge problem. Despite the campaigns of late (such as 50/50 in 2020), it is still remarkably rare to see a theater season with equal representation of male and female voices. I’m not the person to break down the reasons for this beyond the fact that we live in a society where everyday misogyny is the norm. People are afraid. Few in power want to risk giving a main stage slot to a woman—especially a not-so-known woman—and I think there is an unconscious idea that women’s stories (whatever the hell that means because stories are stories) don’t appeal to most audiences (i.e. men). Other than stubborn tenacity on the part of all women theatre artists, I don’t know what the solution is.
WBW: What gives you hope for women in American theater?
KLC: More than anything else, probably the fact that I know so many women working in the American theater that are brilliant! Just in the WP Lab alone, I’m continually blown away by the range of talent, experience, and ideas that come from this group of women. And that’s only fifteen people. I know tons more. It reminds me of a quote from one of my fave 90s films The Craft: “When you open a flood gate, how can you undo it?” There are just too many of us out here to ignore. Stubborn tenacity!
Women’s Project Theater’s production of The Architecture of Becoming will run February 28 through March 23, 2014 at New York City Center. For more information and tickets, visit Women’s Project Theater’s website.
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This entry was posted on February 18, 2014 by worksbywomen in Interview, Off Broadway, Women and tagged kara lee corthron, the architecture of becoming, women's project theater.
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INDUSTRY Q&A WITH AUTHOR KARA LEE CORTHRON
Tell us about your most recent book and how you came to write/illustrate it.
My debut novel, The Truth of Right Now, was just published last week by Simon Pulse and I’m seriously excited that it’s finally out in the world! It’s a story I had wanted to write for several years before I actually did it. I’m a playwright and 2013 turned out to be a pretty slow year for me professionally, so I thought it might be a good time to write the novel and it worked out perfectly. I wrote it as a response to some incredibly disturbing trends in the national news (if you read the book, you’ll know what I’m talking about). I wanted to address some of the ugly issues that teens face from their perspectives and without the distance of a news headline.
Do you think of yourself as a diverse author/illustrator?
Yes, I do.
image
What does diversity mean to you as you think about your own books?
Representation matters. There are more books being published now about young people of color, young LGBTQ people, and young people with disabilities than ever before and that’s fantastic. However, there are more books being published now in general so the problem of marginalization continues. I’ve made it my business and an important part of my aesthetic to feature historically disenfranchised individuals as the focus of my work. It’s necessary to see all aspects of humanity if we ever hope to build an empathetic and compassionate world. In light of the incoming executive leadership in the U.S., celebrating our differences along with our similarities feels critically relevant; almost a radical act. But such a simple one.
Hypothetically speaking, let’s say you are forced to sell all of the books you own except for one. Which do you keep?
As sad as this situation sounds, it would sort of be a great relief to me because I am a pathological book hoarder! I’m pretty much drowning in books right now and it’s a problem I need to do something about. But back to your question, if I could only keep one … well, I’d certainly keep my sister’s novel, The Castle Cross the Magnet Carter (which everyone should read if you haven’t yet!), but that feels like I’m cheating. Other than her book, I’d keep Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. I’ve had the same copy since fourth grade. It’s one of the few things that’s traveled with me everywhere I’ve lived.
What is your opinion on authors writing about outside cultures?
Ooh, that’s a good question. It is tricky, but important to do. As a teacher, I’m saddened when I see white students shying away from writing characters of other ethnicities and it happens often. Writing about people we don’t know intimately is one of the best ways to learn about them. It’s all about intention. If a writer genuinely wants to capture the voice of someone from a different culture, they should talk to people within that culture, do research, read, watch relevant YouTube videos, learn about the struggles—political and social—that that particular culture has experienced. If the intentions are genuine and the skill is there, writing characters outside your culture should be a lot like writing characters within your culture: they will feel like compelling, real people and the wise folks won’t care that they may not look like you. They might not even think about it.
What is an example of tone deaf writing?
Not all intentions are good, however. When I see writing wherein a character of color, for example, appears just to be a punch line for mispronouncing a word if they’re an immigrant or for being the “fish out of water” in a white, able-bodied society, I get angry. This kind of writing isn’t coming from a place of wanting to understand someone from a different background. It’s coming from a place of white supremacy, which doesn’t have to include swastikas or racial epithets to be present. In fact, it often doesn’t. Work that suggests being anything other than white (and sometimes male) is not normal, endorses white supremacy. Any kind of writing that reinforces stereotypes of a people is tone deaf to the reality of the planet on which it was made. I once heard Daniel José Older make an astute point about writing marginalized characters poorly: it’s a failure of craft. If a writer is only able to write with compassion and complexity when he’s writing people from his background, he is not a strong writer. In the same vein, if a writing professor only teaches novels and short stories from the Western European, and largely male, canon, he is not a strong writing professor. The answer? Work hard, be open, get better. The ability to include all aspects of humanity without reverting to gross generalizations in the scope of the fiction we create is part of the job.
image
image
Photo by Jody Christopherson
Kara Lee Corthron is an award-winning New York City based playwright. A Julliard alumna, she is an instructor at Primary Stages’ Einhorn School of Performing Arts and has taught at the MFA and BFA playwriting programs at Ohio University, NYU-Tisch, Rutgers, and Spalding University.
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Kara Lee Corthron Named Paula Vogel Playwriting Award Winner
BY ERNIO HERNANDEZ
APR 14, 2010
Kara Lee Corthron has won the third annual Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, The Vineyard Theatre announced April 14.
Kara Lee Corthron
Kara Lee Corthron
The award will be presented to Corthron June 17 at a luncheon at New York's National Arts Club with the award's namesake, playwright Vogel, in attendance. The honor — previously bestowed upon Tarell Alvin McCraney and Rajiv Joseph — is presented to "an emerging playwright of exceptional promise," according to the award announcement. The winner receives a cash prize, artistic development support and a staged reading of his or her work at the Vineyard.
Corthron's plays include Holly Down In Heaven, Etched in Skin on A Sunless Night and she is currently working on commissions from South Coast Rep, Naked Angels, New Georges and EST/Sloan. She was also a staff writer for the NBC drama, "Kings." The playwright is the sister of fellow playwright Kia Corthron (A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick, Light Raise the Roof, Force Continuum).
"We are delighted to announce Kara Lee Corthton as this year's Paula Vogel Award winner. Kara is a young playwright of prodigious talent - witty, imaginative, with a distinctive voice all her own," stated Vineyard Theater artistic director Douglas Aibel and associate artistic director Sarah Stern. "Her plays evince a truly empathetic writer, who approaches her characters with grace, charm, and a bittersweet and touching sensibility. We had the pleasure of working with Kara on a workshop last season and look forward to continuing to support her process at this stage of her work and career. Like her predecessors in this award - Tarell Alvin McCraney and Rajiv Joseph - she is a most promising new writer for the American theatre."
The Vineyard is located at 108 East 15 St. For more information, visit vineyardtheatre.org.
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Print Marked Items
The Truth of Right Now
Sarah Weber
BookPage.
(Jan. 2017): p28.
COPYRIGHT 2017 BookPage
http://bookpage.com/
Full Text:
THE TRUTH OF RIGHT NOW
By Kara Lee
Corthron
Simon Pulse
$17.99, 288 pages
ISBN 9781481459471
eBook available
Ages 14 and up
FICTION
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
After a traumatic year off, Lily's return to her swanky Manhattan high school has been far from easy. Most of her
friends still blame her for what happened, and the rest treat her with the lightest of kid gloves. The only person who
isn't treating Lily like a pariah is Dari, the artistic new student with a troubled past. Their attraction is immediate and
intense, but can it survive a tumultuous year of drama and tragedy?
Playwright Kara Lee Corthron's first novel is at once a touching romance and a poignant coming-ofage story that's
deeply in tune with the harsh realities many teenagers and young adults face today. From sexual assault to domestic
abuse to systemic racism, Lily and Dari encounter obstacles that no teen should have to face, but all too many do.
Corthron tells their story with just the right mix of whimsy, grace and gravitas, treating her protagonists and the flawed
adults in their lives with the utmost respect. Lily and Dari's journey is inspirational, and despite how deeply the deck is
stacked against them, they gather the courage to move forward in the best way they can.
The Truth of Right Now is not a lighthearted read, but it's an important page-turner for young readers growing up in
today's America.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Weber, Sarah. "The Truth of Right Now." BookPage, Jan. 2017, p. 28. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA475225459&it=r&asid=cb5d19f0f48cb24ef10e3c2173e31869.
Accessed 6 Sept. 2017.
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Corthron, Kara Lee: THE TRUTH OF RIGHT
NOW
Kirkus Reviews.
(Nov. 1, 2016):
COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Corthron, Kara Lee THE TRUTH OF RIGHT NOW Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (Children's Fiction) $17.99 1, 3
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5947-1
High school can be hell, but if they can hold onto their friendship, Lily and Dari might just survive.... In her debut
novel, playwright Corthron crafts a haunting and disturbingly realistic tale of two teenagers from different worlds
trying desperately to hold onto their artistic dreams while enduring the vapid wasteland that is their upscale New York
City prep school. Returning for the first time since her suicide attempt, Lily, a privileged Jewish white girl, is estranged
from her former friends and now finds their lives trivial. Dari, a cynical Trinidadian-American transfer student, is a
brooding painter in search of a new muse. Both are outcasts from broken homes drawn together by a mutual need for
companionship. Lily and Dari alternate narration (Lily in first person; Dari in third; both realistically profane),
enabling the author to build two richly nuanced protagonists whose voices are so heartbreakingly authentic that readers
may scan their homerooms searching for them. Vivid details, from the smell of the bums on the 1 train and the brutal
taunts of high school social cliques to the all-encompassing isolation the teens feel dealing with parents who don't quite
understand them, practically pop off of the pages. Another treat this novel boasts are secondary characters who manage
to be as intriguing as its stars, particularly Dari's overbearing immigrant father and Lily's well-meaning mother. A
powerhouse of storytelling that feels timely and timeless. (Fiction. 14 & up)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Corthron, Kara Lee: THE TRUTH OF RIGHT NOW." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Nov. 2016. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA468388996&it=r&asid=d8cc836bcd584cb228f2f0b1e7c8cea5.
Accessed 6 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A468388996
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The Truth of Right Now
Publishers Weekly.
263.44 (Oct. 31, 2016): p79.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Truth of Right Now
Kara Lee Corthron. Simon Pulse, $17.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-4814-5947-1
In this engrossing debut novel set in New York City, Corthron takes readers back and forth between the perspectives of
two high school loners who are beginning the school year with a lot of baggage. Lily Rothstein, a white musician, is
the school pariah, abandoned by even her best friends, though Corthron doesn't immediately reveal why.
Dariomauritius "Dari" Gray, who is black, has an abusive father and his own history of rage, which he tries to escape
by focusing on drawing and keeping to himself. Sparks fly when the two meet, and their conversations about family,
race, and their difficult backgrounds light up the pages. Corthron carefully builds trust between Dari and Lily, but as
the teenagers' pasts catch up with them, some late-breaking and scandalous developments, including the revelation of
what has made Lily such an outcast, undermine the still-new romance and tenuous intimacy between them. While
some of these dramatic twists feel rushed, Corthron marks herself as a writer unafraid of taking up difficult topics
relevant to teens' lives. Ages 14--up.
Agent: Laurie Liss, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Jan.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Truth of Right Now." Publishers Weekly, 31 Oct. 2016, p. 79. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA470462609&it=r&asid=0dc04e2cba56e93c8c4826fddb6890c4.
Accessed 6 Sept. 2017.
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The Truth of Right Now
Diane Colson
Booklist.
113.5 (Nov. 1, 2016): p55.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
The Truth of Right Now. By Kara Lee Corthron. Jan. 2017.288p. Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse, $17.99
(9781481459471). Gr. 9-12.
When Lily returns to her Manhattan high school in the fall, she is met with disgust and revulsion from her longtime
classmates. They all know what she did the previous school year, and their disdain only adds to Lily's distress, since
she's still emotionally paralyzed by the experience and unable to take refuge even in her beloved music. Then she
notices a new kid, Dari, who keeps his head in his art to avoid his difficult home situation. As they grow closer, they
find some comfort in each other, and if this was a predictable novel, their romance would heal all their wounds. But
debut novelist Corthron eschews the easy path, especially when Lily, who's white, displays careless, dangerous naivete
when Dari, who's black, faces an ultimately tragic interaction with police officers. While the plot at times verges on
melodrama, its focus on racial injustice becomes the most powerful of the novel's subplots. Hand to fans of Kekla
Magoon's How It Went Down (2014) or Stephen Emond's Bright Lights, Dark Nights (2015). --Diane Colson
Colson, Diane
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Colson, Diane. "The Truth of Right Now." Booklist, 1 Nov. 2016, p. 55. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA471142923&it=r&asid=e85b35ceb1031fa73ccc8fe23f91adac.
Accessed 6 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A471142923