Today we’d like to introduce you to Ruthie Prillaman.
Ruthie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m a writer and musician from Potomac, Maryland. I studied poetry and playwriting at Yale and screenwriting at USC. I started my writing life with a comprehensive poetical work about all the animals I could think of at age six and in a funny way, it’s really not all that different from what I’m doing now. My creative life has been a study in experimenting and bringing what I learned back to my essential self. At Yale, I discovered the magic of collaborating with my brother, a composer, and started writing songs and musicals. At USC, I learned how to write about my queer identity in a way that felt joyful and honest. Now, I’m developing work for animation with my partner, who’s an artist, and our latest project combines everything I’ve been learning to pour into my work – queerness, music, and my poetical interest in natural phenomena.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My college years were complicated and included some of the kinds of traumas that turn your life upside down. What saved me during that time was making art with people I loved.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My work addresses themes of self-invention and reinvention through fantastical, heart-felt lenses. I’m currently developing an animated series and working on a graphic novel that explores these themes in the context of plants. I also have had the opportunity to collaborate with some incredible composers in the last couple of years and have written texts for choral and orchestral pieces, which have been premiered or will soon be premiered by virtual choirs. My choral texts in particular interrogate how we relate to our own histories, personal and institutional, as we try to shape a better world.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I’m really good at googling stuff. I google stuff all day. Which is to say, what keeps me going is my curiosity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ruthieprillaman.com/
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