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AUGUST WILSON 

LIT 363-004

Professor Wells

Examples of his work:

  • Fences – 1986
  • The Piano Lesson – 1990
  • Joe Turner’s Come and Go - 1986

Biography

  • Born on April 27, 1945, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

  • Wrote first play, Jitney, in 1979

  • Married Judy Oliver in 1981

  • Won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award in 1987 for Fences

  • Won another Pulitzer Prize in 1990, for The Piano Lesson

Biography (cont’d)

  • Divorced Judy Oliver in 1990

  • His collection entitled Three Plays by August Wilson,

was published in book form in 1991.

  • Two Trains Running premiered in 1992

  • Married a costume designer called Constanza Romero in 1994

  • Died of liver cancer on October 2, 2005, in Seattle, Washington. 

Concerns regarding ethnic or minority issues

  • Self-authentication is not possible for African-Americans

  • Advocates for amalgamation of ideas and thoughts from all ethnic groups in America

  • Reclamation and re-inscription of black cultural legacy into the American society.

Examples from plays

  • In his play Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1991) ,

August Wilson suggests that without the

Reclamation of the African cultural legacy,

African Americans cannot self authenticate themselves.

  • In his play Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1991), he dramatizes how the black Americans need to forge their identity into an identity that is African-American.

Three relevant quotes from interviews

  • “Blacks don’t melt in a pot… Because we are

very visible minority… We have a culture.” 

  • “I am an African, and I can participate in this

society as an African” 

  • “Let’s look at this again and see where we’ve come

from and how we’ve gotten where we are now.

I think if you know that, it helps determine how

to proceed with the future”

Three unique conventions of his work

  • August Wilson was an American playwright

and he has lots of wonderful work.

  • Among Wilson's great work, some best known

plays are;

  • Fences - 1985
  • Won Pulitzer Prize & Tony Award
  • The Piano Lesson - 1990
  • Won Pulitzer Prize & New York Drama Critics'

Circle Award.

  • Joe Turner's Come and Gone - 1986

Recent production of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson”

  • This production was done on May 11th, at the

Geva Theatre, 75 Woodbury Blvd.

  • It explores more significant themes like how

balancing of the past and the present can be

done and what it means in America to be black.

  • The following are the quotes of his work;

  • “Can't you see our soul is with this piano?”

  • “That's in the past. I want to trade this wood for land. I'm

trying to put my mark on the world, live my life my own way,“

  • “That's when I discovered the power of death. See, a nigger that

ain't afraid to die is the worse kind of nigger for the white man.

He can't hold that power over you.”