“I have never put much attention on ‘my career,’ whether as a playwright, columnist, essayist, or educator, aside from the fundamental work of connecting communities across difference,” says Lynden Harris. She is the founder of Hidden Voices, an inclusive, participatory, and co-creative collective committed to building a just, compassionate, and sustainable world. Since 2001, she has collaborated with underrepresented communities to create award-winning works that combine narrative, performance, mapping, music, digital media, and interactive exhibits.
Harris’s most recent work includes Serving Life: ReVisioning Justice, a multi-disciplinary project sharing stories from people awaiting execution in American prisons. The project includes two plays: Serving Life (created and performed on death row) and Count: Stories from America’s Death Row (which premiered at PlayMakers Repertory Company); two exhibits: Serving Life (co-created with men on death row) and Standing on Love (portraits and reflections of family members); and a cycle of monologues titled “Right Here, Right Now,” which will be gathered in a forthcoming book (2020). Her play, To Buy the Sun, about the life of activist Pauli Murray toured the East coast in 2018.