Celebrating Lynn Nottage: CCNY Honors the Playwright's Art and Activism at 44th Langston Hughes Festival

From City to the World

On February 9, The City College of New York holds its 44th Langston Hughes Festival and awards its Langston Hughes Medal to a highly distinguished writer of the African diaspora: Lynn Nottage. With a mission to celebrate and expand upon the legacy of Harlem Renaissance icon and "poet laureate of Harlem" Langston Hughes, the Festival awarded its first medal, in 1978, to James Baldwin, followed by an honor roll of the greatest Black writers of our time—among them Toni Morrison, Chinua Achebe, and Rita Dove. In this episode, host Vincent Boudreau, president of City College, previews the 2023 festival by convening a conversation with Nottage and Jodi-Ann Francis, associate director of the CCNY Black Studies Program —one of the first established in the U.S. Francis is also the moderator of the Langston Hughes Festival symposium, prior to the award ceremony. Hear from Nottage, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, screenwriter, and librettist, how she centers Black lives, listens deeply to create resonant characters, and views her work as both artist and activist. Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau Guests: Jodi-Ann Francis, Associate Director of the CCNY Black Studies Program; Lynn Nottage, playwright, screenwriter, librettist, and 2023 Langston Hughes Medalist Recorded: January 19, 2023