Pearl Cleage was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, the youngest of two daughters of Doris Cleage, an elementary school teacher, and Rev. Albert Cleage, founder of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church. After backlash resulting from her father's radical teachings, the family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where Bishop Cleage became a prominent civil rights leader. From 1966-1969, Cleage enrolled at Howard University in Washington, D.C where she studied playwriting. In 1969 she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she married politician Michael Lomax, whom she later divorced in 1979. In Atlanta, she attended Spelman College, where she attained a bachelor's degree in drama in 1971. She then joined the Spelman faculty as a writer and playwright in residence and as a creative director. Cleage has written many novels, plays, and non-fiction works borrowing heavily from her life experiences. Many of her novels are set in neighborhoods in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2013, Cleage became the Playwright in Residence at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta through the National Playwright Residency Program funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by HowlRound. The initial three-year term was renewed for an additional three years in 2016. Cleage is documenting her residency with frequent writings in the HowlRound journal. Cleage notably writes about topics at the intersection of sexism and racism, specifically on issues such as domestic violence and rape in the black community. She has been a supporter of the Obama administration. Cleage is an activist for AIDS and women's rights, experiences from which she draws from for her writings.
Personal life
In 1969, Cleage married Michael Lomax, an Atlanta politician and past-president of Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. They had a daughter, Deignan Njeri. The marriage ended in divorce in 1979. In 1994, Cleage married Zaron Burnett Jr., writer and director for the Just Us Theater Company. She has four grandchildren. Cleage is a former Cosby Endowed Chair professor at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She also speaks at colleges, universities, and conferences on topics including domestic violence, the citizen's role in a participatory democracy, and writing topics.
Inspiration
In an interview for Marita Golden's book "The Word: Black WritersTalk about the Transformative Power of Reading and Writing", Cleage mentions her access to an abundance of books written by black people as a factor in her love for reading and writing. Within the interview, Cleage talks about her family expressing the idea that as a writer, she must write about the struggle of black people. She did not find this thought limiting or oppressive. Other inspirations came from her being the owner of a book store and cultural center called "The Shrine of the Black Madonna". At the book store artists from the Black Arts Movement would meet. Cleage was inspired by the constant conversations about blackness and was comfortable in her place within the topic. Throughout Cleage's work, she has stated her desire to present African American women as they navigate the world daily. An example of this in her work is discussed in In Black Feminism in Contemporary Drama by Lisa Anderson. Anderson talks about Cleage's portrayal of African American women in her play Flyin West, where Cleage shows formerly enslaved African American women creating a community and working to remain free.. Cleage has stated that black women in America are her main audience, but she welcomes all audiences to her work.
Awards
2013 Theatre Legend Award - Atlanta Black Theatre Festival
1983 Five AUDELCO Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway, 1983
