Lauren Gunderson: The Most Produced Living American Playwright This Year

Meet Lauren Gunderson: This Year's Most Produced Living American Playwright! Special Interview by Michaela Goldhaber Lauren Gunderson is the most produced living playwright in the U.S.this year according to American Theatre's analysis of the 2016-17 season.  There will be 16 productions of her plays at theatres across the country this year (including 4 co-writing credits). Gunderson has achieved the often impossible dream of making her living as a playwright, and it is especially remarkable, because she is doing it from San Francisco. As she points out, she is living proof that "you don't have to live in New York, or even have that much of a presence in New York, to have a career." WomenArts Associate Editor Michaela Goldhaber interviews Lauren Gunderson this week about her writing process, her interests in science and Shakespeare, and her faith in storytelling, art, community, and democracy. Read the full interview with Lauren Gunderson on the WomenArts Blog>> Milwaukee Super SWANS Raise Funds for Women in Need Former WomenArts Associate Director Isabelle Spike is working with SWAN Day Milwaukee this year to raise funds to purchase menstrual products for local women in need.  She has constructed Flo, the charming swan in this video, entirely of menstrual products and a few feathers. Thanks, Isabelle, for sharing this! Please "Go with the Flo" and make a gift to their GoFundMe campaign if you can>> Are you doing a SWAN event to raise money for a good cause in your community?  Let us know - we will be happy to feature you in our newsletters & social media. Enter the SWAN Photo Contest! Do you have a great SWAN photo to share?  Enter it in our new SWAN Photo Contest!  We are offering two first prizes of $500 - one for the best individual shot, and one for the best group shot. We will create other prizes depending on what we receive. Deadline: April 1.  Go to the SWAN Photo Guidelines & Entry Form>> THIS WEEK ON THE SWAN CALENDAR Muse - Women's Choir Concert in Cincinnati MUSE, the Cincinnati women's choir conducted by Danielle Steele, interim director, will present multicultural lullabies and protest songs honoring women fighting inequality this Saturday & Sunday. Earlham College Women's Chorus will join MUSE for the second half of the program. The concert will close with a sing-a-long of the new Women's March anthem "I Can't Keep Quiet" by MILCK. Women's March hats and other symbols of solidarity and resistance are welcome and encouraged. March 4 & 5. The Sanctuary, 2110 Saint Michael St,Cincinnati, OH. $10 - $20. Free Childcare. Read more on the SWAN Calendar>>  Equity in Theatre Hackathon in Canada Join Canada's Equity in Theatre for their third annual series of hackathons around the country where they will make Canadian women artists more visible on the Internet by adding them to online wiki pages. Equity in Theatre is a Canadian group dedicated to gender parity in theatre. If you can't attend in person, you can also help from home. March 6th-12th, 2017. Various Locations in Canada.  Read more on on the SWAN Calendar>> Strong As A Woman - Art Exhibit in Peekskill, NY Strong As a Woman is an exhibit curated by Marcy B. Freedman and Carla Rae Johnson featuring the artwork of female artists in the Peekskill, NY area. The curators were inspired by the words of Audrey Hepburn, who insisted on "being strong when everything seems to be going wrong."  The works in this exhibit show women being strong in a variety of ways. Beanrunner Cafe, 201 S. Division Street, Peekskill, NY. March 6 - April 2.  Free.  Read more on the SWAN Calendar>> Jazz Singer Gwen Sampé Performs in Paris!  Gwen Sampé is a jazz singer who incorporates the art of improvising as an integral and indispensable part of her musical soundscape. Born into a family of singers in Houston, Texas her approach to jazz singing is rooted in the past yet unapologetically modern. On March 3, Gwen Sampé and friends will perform SlamJazz, improvised jazz, free jazz, immediate composition, vocal, rhythmic, cool, crossover, and simply jazz at Bab-Ilo, 9 Rue du Baigneur, Paris, France.  Read more on the SWAN Calendar>> Look for other SWAN events or submit your own on the SWAN Calendar>> Recent Posts on the WomenArts Blog  WomenArts is doing a weekly series of paid guest posts and spotlight articles on women arts leaders. Here are the past five posts:  Women Who Score - The Alliance of Women Film Composers Innovative Non-profit Works for Age & Gender Equity in Portland, OR  Ingrid Hernández Explores the Meaning of Home in the Outskirts of Tijuana The Colorful, Radical Quilts of Chawne Kimber Merry Lynn Morris Invents a Wheelchair Fit for Dancing If you would like to write an article for us, please check out our Blog Submission Guidelines>>  Looking for Theatre or Film Opportunities or Grants?  Free Monthly #StageOpps and #ScreenOpps Newsletters Can Help! Women in the Arts and Media Coalition in collaboration with WomenArts is publishing free newsletters for theatre and film/video artists listing submission opportunities, grants, auditions, residencies and more. You can follow #StageOpps and #ScreenOpps on Twitter or see the latest issues by visiting the Coalition's website. To submit listings for the #StageOpps or #ScreenOpps newsletters, please write to: stageopps@womenartsmediacoalition.org or screenopps@womenartsmediacoalition.org.