ABSTRACT
Lydia Diamond artistically grew up in Chicago, where she attended Northwestern University. She comes from a family of musicians, so she was encouraged to play the violin from a young age. She takes a long time to write a play: she goes through several drafts and carefully finds the voices of her characters to tell their stories in the right way. Lydia writes scenes in no chronological order; instead, she allows the characters to grow and live, and then rearranges them into the structure of the play. Lydia writes poignant dialogue, deeply rooted in the themes of the plays, but she is always able to find the humor that exists in even the most painful situations, making her writing land more effectively and elegantly. Her credits include The Bluest Eye, Voyeurs de Venus, Stick Fly, Harriet Jacobs, Smart People, and Toni Stone.
