Yesterday I read in the New York Times that Danai Gurira had won a 2012 Whiting Writers' Award. Whiting awards are given to writers of promise, and she is certainly one of those. A playwright and actress, Danai is hugely talented, with a rare perspective on the world that comes in part from being born in Iowa and raised in Zimbabwe.  I talked to her just before her play The Convert premiered at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, in January 2012. Her seriousness and intelligence are evident, and the story she tells, of a bright young girl seeking her future in colonial Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), is timely and important. How often are we hearing lately that the education of girls may be the key to a brighter future in Africa? Congratulations Danai Gurira!