August Wilson

August Wilson once dropped out of school, disillusioned after having been unjustly accused of plagiarism by a racist instructor who could not fathom the artistic and intellectual genius of a then young Black male writer. Wilson was not disillusioned forever. Having now completed a decade by decade cycle of seven plays that illustrate the complexity, problems, and beauty of Black American life, Wilson sits at the pinnacle of American playwrights who have achieved world-renown. He first became involved in theatre in the late 1960s when he co-founded the Black Horizons Theater which was a community theatre located in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. His first professional production was "Black Bart and the Sacred Hills" which was based on an earlier series of poems. "Black Bart..." was produced at St. Paul's Penumbra Theatre in 1981. Wilson's breakthrough occurred when Lloyd Richards--then Dean and Artistic Director of the Yale Repertory Theatre--brought Wilson to the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrig