🧠📚 CREATOR Q&A 📚🧠
✧ Q: What are your biggest [playwriting] influences?
✧ A: “My biggest influences are my experience as a Black woman and mother and the fact that for too long the narrative of those who are usually marginalized, silenced, or ignored (BIPOC, the LGBTQIA community, women, etc.) has been crafted and told by others. There is a short allegory that I find striking in relation to this.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, ‘𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦?’
‘𝘠𝘦𝘴,’ 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯, ‘𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴𝘬?’
‘𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭,’ 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺, ‘𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦?’
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, ‘𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺.’
Moving beyond what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls ‘The Danger of the Single Story’ is crucial.
In terms of writing, I am definitely influenced by August Wilson, whose plays celebrated the everyday experiences of Black people and were all set in Pittsburgh, where he grew up. I am from Aliquippa, a small city just north of Pittsburgh, so Wilson has long been on my radar. Other playwrights I consider to be influential are Lynn Nottage, Dominique Morrisseau, Kirsten Greenidge, Henrik Ibsen, and Shakespeare.”
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Stay tuned for updates on Lydia’s play, 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘢, and hear more about her writing process in our #BriefBlackCandles interview series! (Part Two out now!)
((Lydia K. Valentine’s debut poetry collection, Brief Black Candles, is available from King’s Books in Tacoma, WA (signed!), Amazon, or through your local indie bookshop.))
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