Vogel says, 'In every play, there are a couple of places where I send a message to my late brother Carl.

I only write about things that directly impact my life.' Vogel adds, 'If people get upset, it's because the play is working.' Vogel's family, especially her late brother Carl Vogel, influences her writings. Asserting that she 'writes the play backwards,' moving from emotional circumstances and character to craft narrative structure, Vogel says, 'My writing isn't actually guided by issues.

Other notable plays include Desdemona, A Play About A Handkerchief (1979) The Oldest Profession (1981) And Baby Makes Seven (1984) Hot 'N Throbbing (1994) and The Mineola Twins (1996).Īlthough no particular theme or topic dominates her work, she often examines traditionally controversial issues such as sexual abuse and prostitution. She is best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning play How I Learned To Drive (1997), which examines the impact and echoes of child sexual abuse and incest. Vogel also attended Bryn Mawr College from 1969 to 19 to 1972.Ī productive playwright since the late 1970s, Vogel first came to national prominence with her AIDS-related seriocomedy The Baltimore Waltz, which won the Obie award for Best Play in 1992. She is a graduate of The Catholic University of America (1974, B.A.) and Cornell University (1976, M.A.). to Donald Stephen Vogel, an advertising executive, and Phyllis Rita Bremerman, a secretary for United States Postal Service Training and Development Center. She received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, How I Learned to Drive. Paula Vogel is an American playwright and university professor.

Vogel how i learned to drive