Quiara Alegría Hudes is an American playwright, producer, lyricist, and essayist born in Philadelphia in 1977. She is best known for writing the book for the musical In the Heights, which premiered in 2007, and for adapting it into a screenplay for the film version. Hudes has established herself as a significant voice in contemporary American theater through her Elliot Trilogy, a series of interconnected plays. Her first play in the trilogy, Elliot, a Soldier's Fugue, was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. She went on to win the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Water by the Spoonful, the second play in the trilogy.