A biography for Holly Nearhasn’t been written yet.
“My parents had been involved in the labor movement; if we'd grown up in the city, we would have been red-diaper babies.”
“To my great surprise and pleasure, I have had dinner with most of the people living with whom I would like to have dinner.”
“A lot of artists say, I'm not political. People are afraid of this word.”
“When the students were killed at Kent State, the cast voted to do a demonstration from the stage, and I abstained.”
“Part of keeping space open is not to try to choose a form - to spend more time thinking about content, and let form take care of itself.”
“Language is like songs, like food, like dance-it is the expression of what we think.”
“My creativity and my political work are linked. I don't do this work out of guilt or out of responsibility.”
“We who are interested in relative truth have to keep digging for it and not let ourselves be sucked under.”
“The women's movement completely changed attitudes all over the world in ways we'll never be able to count.”
“Once women are not excluded, I don't think any of us will give a damn what pronouns are used. That wasn't the point.”
“Part of being an artist is being willing to be shocked, being willing to be surprised, being willing to be hurt.”
“It's been important to me to be a good activist, a good thinker, a good musician, a good singer, and a good entertainer. You can't do it all, but I have walked those delicate lines as best I know how.”