John Patrick Shanley at the NYS Writers Institute in 2011

An excerpt from an interview with playwright and screenwriter John Patrick Shanley who visited the New York State Writers Institute in April 2011 (http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/). John Patrick Shanley, major contemporary playwright noted especially for his working class New York dramas, received the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for his 2004 play, "Doubt: A Parable," about allegations of sexual misconduct at a Catholic school in the Bronx.

Shanley directed his own adaptation of DOUBT for the screen, starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, in 2008. The film earned five Academy Award nominations, including best screenplay. In 1987, Shanley received an Oscar for his original screenplay for the hit film MOONSTRUCK. His notable plays include "Women of Manhattan" (1986), "Psychopathia Sexualis" (1998), "Dirty Story" (2003), "Defiance" (2005), and "Pirate" (2010).

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