Quiara Alegría Hudes

ABOUT

Quiara Alegría Hudes has written for the stage, page, voice, and screen. Quiara’s debut novel, The White Hot, was named a best book of 2025 by Kirkus, NPR, and Ms. Magazine. Her 2021 memoir, My Broken Language, was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal and was One Book, One Philadelphia’s citywide read. Her plays include Water by the Spoonful, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize; In the Heights, winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and a Pulitzer finalist; and Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue, another Pulitzer finalist. Hudes has also written two feature films: the animated Vivo and the screen adaptation of In the Heights. She has contributed essays for The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Cut, The Nation, and American Theater Magazine. With her cousin Sean, she co-founded a prison writing program: Emancipated Stories. A daughter of the Puerto Rican diaspora, she was born and raised in West Philly and now lives in New York. 

ON MUSIC. Originally trained as a composer and pianist, Hudes naturally incorporates music into her writing process. She has collaborated with renowned musicians including Nelson Gonzalez, Michel Camilo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Erin McKeown, Alex Lacamoire, Elio Villafranca, The Cleveland Orchestra, and Bill Sherman.

ON MENTORS. Hudes inherits teachings from matrilineal mentors including her aunt Linda Hudes who composed music for the Big Apple Circus for 20 years, taught her piano, and introduced her to a wide swath of arts and music; Paula Vogel that monster of mischievous theatrical form who taught her playwriting; and Virginia Sanchez, her mom and a recognized Santera and shaman who taught her about the spiritual legacy of a Taína-Lukumí-Boricua. Are music, writing, and spirit teachable? Yes, just like lungs are born knowing how to breathe, but can learn new ways to integrate breath through musculature, observation, and practice.

INTERVIEWS

THE RUMPUS * BOOKPAGE * NPR * LATINA TO LATINA (SECOND VISIT) PLAYBILL * PEN AMERICA * HIP LATINA * LATINA TO LATINA PODCAST * THE NEW YORKER * GUERNICA MAGAZINE * BROADWAY.COM * THE BROOKLYN RAIL * THE NEW YORK TIMES * THE LA TIMES * A FRAME * DALLAS MORNING NEWS * 50 PLAYWRIGHTS PROJECT * THE INTERVAL * WESLEYAN MAGAZINE

SELECT HONORS

Pulitzer Prize in Drama * One Book, One Philadelphia * Tony Award for Best Musical * Best Book of 2025: NPR, Ms. Magazine, Kirkus * Pulitzer Finalist in Drama (twice) * Tony Nomination for Best Book of a Musical * Andrew Carnegie Medal Longlist * The Athenaeum of Philadelphia Literary Prize * Joyce Fellowship * USA Artists Fellowship * Ceiba Award * Pennsylvania Governor’s Award * HOLA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Playwriting * Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical * Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Musical * Puerto Rican Day Parade Grand Marshall (NYC & Philly) * Best Musical, New York Magazine * Best of Book of 2021: Bookpage, New York Public Library, NPR, National Book Review & more * Best Theater of 2007, New York Times * Aetna New Voices Fellowship * Clauder Prize