Description
Born Fort Knox, KentuckyThe first African American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama, Suzan-Lori Parks earned that distinction in 2002 for her play Topdog/Underdog. Critically acclaimed for writing multilayered, historically conscious, and provocative dramas, Parks notes that "because so much of African American history has been unrecorded, dismembered, washed out, one of my tasks as playwright is to-through literature and real life-locate the ancestral burial ground, dig for bones, find bones, hear the bones sing, and write it down." In works that can be lyrical and funny at the same time, Parks experiments with language and challenges her audiences on a variety of levels. "Parks plays with plays and in doing so inspires others to do the same," observes fellow dramatist Tony Kushner. "She has fun, productive fun, with her form's dual nature as literature and as 'script.'"
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Gelatin Silver Print
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
