A little more fuel to the metaphorical fire

Suzan Lori-Parks wrote Topdog/Underdog, another piece of literature in the curriculum of my English class.

The play received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002.

Guess how long it took her to write it.

Hmmm. It won the Pulitzer so it must have been a literary gem. Meticulous planning, endless pondering and writing draft after draft must have taken months or years or decades!

Nope.


3 days.


Here is an excerpt from an interview with Lori-Parks.(emphasis added)

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: And then you wrote it very quickly, I understand.

SUZAN-LORI PARKS: I did.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: I read that you said some plays are torture, but this one came really quickly.

SUZAN-LORI PARKS: Yes, this one was an easy birth. Some plays take... I've written plays that have taken six, seven, eight years, you know, eight, nine, ten, twelve drafts. And this one was... took three days.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Can you explain why.

SUZAN-LORI PARKS: Why? I don't know. God was smiling upon me during those three days, that's why. It was sort of like it was just poured right into my head. I was very fortunate.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I rest my case.