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Playwright, poet P.J. Gibson talks tonight about domestic violence

Carole Leigh Engblom
October 25, 2002

Domestic assaults experienced by women of diverse class and cultural backgrounds is the subject of playwright, poet P. J. Gibson?s powerful dramatic play titled "Masks, Circles: Healing the Pain" and the subject of her talk tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Rolvaag Library Room 525. Gibson?s talk, free and open to the public, will be followed by the sale and signing of her new book "Destiny?s Daughter: Voices of P. J. Gibson."

"Masks, Circles: Healing the Pain" was commissioned by the Women?s Center of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, part of the City University of New York where Gibson teaches creative writing. Gibson began the project with interviews of victims of domestic violence, turning the interviews into the play "Masks" and staging the production. Reluctant to disclose family secrets, "Mask?s" characters bear witness to their painful experiences, employing a mask motif, litanies and elements of ritual in a highly feminine space.

Gibson began her writing career at the age of nine. To date she the author of 30 plays professional produced and hundreds of poems. She has received two AUDELCO awards (Audience Development Committee) for her play "Long Time Since Yesterday," a Shubert Fellowship for the study of dramatic writing, a playwriting grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a PSC-CUNY research award grant (the Research Foundation of the City University of New York) to "shadow" four African-American female judges for her upcoming play "Rotating" and five playwriting commissions. In addition to the professional productions of her work in the United States, Gibson?s work as been staged throughout Europe and Africa. She has also written television situation comedies and for Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby.

Gibson holds an M.F.A. in theatre arts from Brandeis University and a B.A. in drama, religion and English from Keuka College. In addition to writing, she is an associate professor of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, teaching literature, English, fiction writing and poetry.

Gibson?s visit is sponsored by the St. Olaf College English Department, Theatre Department, Writing Program, American Racial and Multicultural Studies, the Leraas Fund, Student Government Associate, Multicultural Affairs and Community Outreach, the Office of Community Life and Diversity, Women?s Studies, Women of Color, WomanSafe House and the St. Olaf Bookstore.

Contact Carole Engblom at 507-786-3315 or leigh@stolaf.edu.