August Wilson - American Playwright

Pulitzer Prize winning playwright August Wilson (April 27, 1945 - October 2, 2005) is one of the most influential writers in American theater. His plays chronicle the tragedies and aspirations of African Americans during the 20th century.

August Wilson's is one of America's most celebrated dramatists. His writing earned him numerous awards, among them the Tony Award (1985), the New York Drama Critics Circle Award (1985) and the Pulitzer Prize for drama (1990). The Virginia Theater on Broadway in NYC was renamed the August Wilson Theater in his honor in 2005, and the African American Cultural Center of Greater Pittsburgh was renamed the August Wilson Center for African American Culture in 2006.

The Pittsburgh Cycle of Plays:

In 10 separate plays, each covering a different decade of the 20th century, August Wilson explored the lives, dreams, triumphs and tragedies of African-American history and culture. Often called the "Pittsburgh Cycle," all but one of the plays is set in the Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh where August Wilson grew up.
August Wilson's cycle of plays, in order by the decade in which the play is set:

"Gem of the Ocean," 1904
"Joe Turner's Come and Gone," 1911
"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," 1927
"The Piano Lesson," 1936
"Seven Guitars," 1948
"Fences," 1957-58 and 1963
"Two Trains Running," 1969
"Jitney," 1977
"King Hedley, II," 1985
"Radio Golf," 1997

August Wilson gained inspiration from African American artist, Romare Bearden. "When I [August Wilson] saw his [Bearden's] work, it was the first time that I had seen black life presented in all its richness, and I said, 'I want to do that -- I want my plays to be the equal of his canvases.'"