August Wilson
|
|
August Wilson (born April_27, 1945 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a Pulitzer Prize winning American playwright, who has achieved widespread acclaim for his stage plays, which focus primarily on the African American experience in the 20th century. His most famous plays are Fences (1987) (which won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award), The Piano Lesson (1990) (a Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award), Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Joe Turner's Come and Gone.
In 2004 he was awarded the Freedom of Speech Award at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.
Works
In 2005, August Wilson completed a ten-play cycle, chronicling the African-American experience in the 20th century. These are:
- 1900s - Gem of the Ocean (2003)
- 1910s - Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1984)
- 1920s - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1982)
- 1930s - The Piano Lesson (1986) - Pulitzer Prize
- 1940s - Seven Guitars (1995)
- 1950s - Fences (1985) - Pulitzer Prize
- 1960s - Two Trains Running (1990)
- 1970s - Jitney (1982)
- 1980s - King Hedley II (2001)
- 1990s - Radio Golf (2005)
Further reading
- August Wilson: A Casebook (Casebooks on Modern Dramatists, Volume 15), edited by Marilyn Elkins, Garland Publishing (November 1, 1999), ISBN 0815336349
- NPR Intersections: August Wilson, Writing to the Blues (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1700922) audio interview