In Person

Dana Singer at Book People

If you mention the word artist, most people will immediately form the image of a shabbily dressed free spirit who is more concerned with some illusive quest for truth than for substantial food or reasonable shelter. Artists are expected to be lost in their art, lost on some vision quest that will bring enlightenment.

But we no longer live in a world where that is possible, if we ever actually did, and we are loath to discuss art and business in the same breath. On October 18, Dana Singer, author of the Stage Writers Handbook, traveled to Book People to prove how powerful the marriage of art and commerce can be.

Singer knows whereof she writes. Associate Director of the Dramatists Guild, former litigator as well as BMI employee, Singer has tons of useful information to offer for every stage writer regardless of level of expertise. The Handbook, partially the result of Singer's time spent answering the Dramatists Guild hotline, covers topics from copyright, representation, and collaboration as well as marketing and job security. Every stage writer should at least glance through this thorough and helpful tome.

Given the wealth of her experience, it is no surprise, then, that Singer's forum, loosely titled "Creativity and the Business of Writing" would contain nuggets of concrete information about tools of the trade as well as a more idea-driven discussion about the roles of artists in modern society. Concepts such as the responsibility of the artist to both the vision and the audience as well as the goals of communication were bandied about by Singer, David Mark Cohen, and Emily Cicchini from Austin Script Works, a local organization devoted to development of new scripts and writers.

While the necessity of merging both art and commerce can be slightly depressing, Singer, a pianist and composer as well as lawyer, offered strong information tempered with her genuine desire to help artists, specifically playwrights, succeed. --Adrienne Martini