Welcome to Season 3 of SolTalk! For our season premiere, David and Joey chat with living legend Luis Alfaro about his recent appointment as one of Center Theatre Group’s newest Associate Artistic Directors, how The Great Pause has become The Great Possibility, and he shares his wisdom for young writers.  

Luis Alfaro was born and raised in downtown Los Angeles and is Center Theatre Group’s newest Associate Artistic Director. He is a Chicano writer known for his work in poetry, theatre, short fiction, performance, and journalism. He is the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, popularly known as the ‘genius’ grant; the PEN America/Laura Pels International Foundation Theater Award for a Master Dramatist; United States Artist Fellowship and Ford Foundation’s Art of Change Fellowship, among others. 

Luis spent six seasons as the Mellon Playwright-in-Residence at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (2013-2019); a member of the Playwright’s Ensemble at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theatre (2013-2020); a resident artist at the Mark Taper Forum (1995-2005); and has been associated with the Ojai Playwrights Conference since 2002. His plays and performances include Electricidad, Oedipus El Rey, Mojada, Delano and Body of Faith. Luis spent over two decades in the Los Angeles poetry and performance art communities. He is an Associate Professor with tenure at the University of Southern California (USC). His recent book, The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro, was released by Methuen Drama this past year, and is the winner this year of the prestigious London/Hellenic Prize for 2020. 

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This episode was mixed and edited by Iris Zacarías (she/they)

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