CALL FOR PAPERS

Staging Lydia: Dramaturgy, Directing & Design in the Plays of Lydia Diamond

Edited by Denise J. Hart

(Northwestern Press 2018)

Staging Lydia is an anthology that seeks to contextualize the work of notable seasoned African American woman playwright Lydia Diamond for a broader academic and professional audience. This anthology will include chapters from both scholars and professional theatre practitioners. It will serve as a resource in institutions and spaces that serve undergraduate students and professional

practitioners seeking a comprehensive examination of the works of Lydia Diamond.

 Written and edited by theatre scholar, educator and dramaturge Denise J. Hart, Staging Lydia positions the work of Lydia Diamond as an important African American playwright making a significant contribution to the diversification of the American Theatre canon. The volume will include an in-depth interview with Diamond and key collaborators who’ve impacted her playwriting career.  Northwestern Press will release he volume in 2018.

Diamond is the author of 6 published plays and the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships. In addition to being produced in regional theatre houses, her play Stick Fly was produced on Broadway by Alicia Keys in 2012 under the direction of Kenny Leon.

 Breakdown of Manuscript

    Foreword by Kathy Perkins

    Introduction by the editor, Denise J. Hart

    12 chapters (essays) ranging from 5000 to 6000 words in length

    8-10 practitioner interviews for a chapter on collaborators who have worked on Diamond’s plays

Essay Topics

The anthology will examine Diamond’s work through the lens of dramaturgy, directing and design. Authors are encouraged to form essay topics that spring from their specific interest in and relationship to Diamond’s work.

 Submission

Authors are invited to submit an abstract, due no later than December 16, 2016

Each proposal submission must be in Microsoft Word format and include: title of paper; abstract (250 words maximum),

author’s affiliation(s) and email address.  Email your submission to: denisetheatre@aol.com

Editor –  Denise J. Hart

Denise J. Hart, a tenured Associate Professor of Theatre at Howard University. Hart is a prolific playwright, dramaturge and

educator.  For the past 16 years she has served the academic population at Howard University where she founded the Playwrights-in- Process Visiting Playwrights series and where she was instrumental in the development of Obie Award Winning playwright, Nikkole Salter’s ground breaking play, “Repairing a Nation” and through a partnership with the Lark Play Development Center, she assi sted with the play development and translation from French to English of award winning French playwright, Kofi Kwahule’s “Melancholy of Barbarians.”

 Hart is also a founding charter member of the August Wilson Society, housed at Howard University. She is an active member of professional theatre organizations, including: American Society of Theatre Research, Dramatist Guild, Black Theatre Network, SAG, Literary Managers and Dramaturges of the Americas, Association of Theatre in Higher Education and serves as the Secretary of the board for the Black Theatre Alliance of ATHE

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: December 16, 2016   Email to denisetheatre@aol.com