Edward Albee Explains "Gay Writer" Comment

Edward Albee says that for writers who are gay to be expected to behave as "gay writers" is a limitation, during an interview on National Public Radio's Morning Edition.

The three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright spoke with host Renee Montagne to explain controversial remarks he made May 26 while accepting the Pioneer Award during the 23rd annual Lambda Literary Awards ceremony. The award presented to Albee honors writers who have broken ground for LGBT literature and publishing.

"A writer who happens to be gay or lesbian must be able to transcend self," Albee told the audience during his acceptance speech. "I am not a gay writer. I am a writer who happens to be gay. Any definition which limits us is deplorable."

During the NPR interview, Albee explains his comment, which raised the ire of a few LGBT bloggers. "Maybe I'm being a little troublesome about this," Albee says now. "But so many writers who are gay are expected to behave like gay writers and I find that is such a limitation and such a prejudicial thing that I fight against it whenever I can."

Albee, best known for the classic battle of the sexes, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, also reveals he's at work on a new play. "None of which, oddly enough, happens to concern being gay," he says, "but it concerns itself with prejudices that involve us a great deal more as a society."