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Pearl Cleage      

Playwright, Novelist, Advocate for Women and African American Issues

Pearl Cleage is an Atlanta-based writer, distinguished as the Artist in Residence at the Tony Award-winning Alliance Theatre. She is celebrated for her extensive work in theatre, literature, and advocacy, particularly in topics concerning the African American community, love, sex, and female empowerment. Cleage's new play, "Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous," premiered during the theatre’s 50th anniversary season in 2019 and is poised for further productions across the country, including at the Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Among her numerous plays, "Flyin’ West" remains notable as the most produced new play in the country since 1994, frequently staged due to its enduring popularity. Other significant works include "The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years," originally commissioned by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and co-produced with the Alliance in Montgomery and Atlanta. Her play for young audiences, "Sit-In," explores the sit-in movement and will accompany a national exhibition by Scholastic Books at the High Museum. Cleage's "Blues for An Alabama Sky" has seen annual productions since its premiere in 1995 and was included in the 20th anniversary season of the Alliance in 2015.

Her literary works also resonate through her novels and essays. Cleage’s first novel, "What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day," was a New York Times bestseller and an Oprah Book Club selection. Other bestselling novels include "Seen It All and Done the Rest" and "Just Wanna Testify," while her memoir, "Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons and Love Affairs," offers a profound look into her personal experiences. Cleage also co-authored "We Speak Your Names" with her husband, Zaron W. Burnett, Jr., as a tribute during Oprah Winfrey’s Legends Weekend. Her essays, particularly the collection "Mad at Miles: A Black Woman’s Guide to Truth," have also been adapted for the stage, contributing to discussions on domestic violence and empowerment.

Cleage’s contributions have garnered multiple accolades, including the Governor’s Award for the Arts in 2018 and an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Spelman College in 2010. Her advocacy extends into her public speaking, where she addresses life lessons for women, the significance of memoir, and the importance of diversity in American theatre. Her role as a founder and CEO at The Lighthouse Academy further underscores her commitment to education and empowerment through the arts. As she continues to influence through her multifaceted career, Cleage remains a vital voice for women and the broader community, blending creativity with critical societal insights.

Speech Topics


Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: The Power of Memoir

A firm believer that “the personal life deeply lived always expands into truths beyond itself,” Cleage’s 2014 memoir, Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies Lessons and Love Affairs, revisits her journals from the 1970’s and 1980’s as a way of passing on the lessons she learned on her journey from naïve wife and young mother to full time professional writer and freewoman. Frank and funny, it’s an invitation to cross generational dialogue.

Voting for the Girl: Citizenship as a Women’s Issue

Examining the dangers of voting based solely on race or gender identification, Cleage suggests that for the American democracy to continue to thrive, women must not be confined to a set of issues determined by their biology or excluded from the wider debate that often informs those issues.

In Search of August Wilson: American Theatre & the Challenge of Diversity

As a widely produced playwright, Cleage examines the unspoken cultural assumptions that continue to shape the choices made by producers and artistic directors as they go in search of “cultural diversity,” and explains why those choices stifle the growth of the American theatre.

We Speak Your Names: A Celebration

An unexpected commissioning from Oprah Winfrey found Cleage writing the poem that defined Winfrey’s 2005 Legends Weekend honoring African American women. She shares the process that produced the piece and her memories of that extraordinary weekend, taking listeners behind the scenes of the poem that became the centerpiece of the event.

Everything But the Money: Lessons for Free Women

Cleage examines her own life and determines that she’s done “everything right but the money.” Equal parts affirmation of her own life choices and cautionary tale for independent women, it is a frank and funny examination of the joys and challenges facing American female baby boomers.

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