Eve Ensler's internationally famous book The Vagina Monologues is being released in a special anniversary edition with additional, never-before-published monologues. The Vagina Monologues is a stage production consisting of a variety of personal monologues read by a diverse group of women. After its initial premiere more than 20 years ago in New York, the show gained in fame thanks to an all-star production at Madison Square Garden and a television production by HBO. Its hard-hitting text has since been translated into 45 languages and the show performed in more than 100 countries.
Ensler, in addition to being a playwright and performer, is an activist and the founder and artistic director of V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls. Marking 20 years since the start of V-Day, the upcoming edition from Hachette imprint Virago in the UK will include six new monologues that have never before been published.
Also included will be a new foreword by National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson and an introduction by the author. The V-Day movement spawned the campaign One Billion Rising, whose director, Monique Wilson, will provide an afterword about the play's global impact.