AUGUST WILSON: WRITER, PLAYWRIGHT, ICON
(bibliography also available http://www.purdue.edu/bcc/library/awbib.htm)
Compiled by Dorothy Ann Washington, Black Cultural Center Library, Purdue Univ.
WORKS BY WILSON
Wilson, August. Africa's Spirit Lives On. Utne Reader (38):105.
. The legacy of Malcolm X. Life 15 (14):84.
. Living on mother's prayer. New York Times 145 (50425):13.
. National Black Theater Festival, 1997. Callaloo 20 (3):483.
. 1985. Ma Rainey's black bottom: a play in two acts. New York: New American Library
812.54 W691m (BCC, HSSE)
. 1986. Fences: a play. New York: New American Library
812.54 W691f (BCC, HSSE)
. 1988. Joe Turner's come and gone: a play in two acts. New York: New American Library
812.54 W691j (BCC, HSSE)
. 1990. The piano lesson, Plume drama. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Plume
812.54 W691p, 1990 (HSSE & Undergraduate)
. 1992. Two trains running. New York: Dutton
812.54 W691t, 1992 (BCC)
. 1996. Seven guitars. New York; London: French
812.54 W691s 1996b (BCC, HSSE)
. 2000. Sailing The Stream Of Black Culture. New York Times 149 (51367):1.
. 2001. The ground on which I stand. 1st ed, Dramatic contexts. New York
St Paul, MN: Theatre Communications Group;
Distributed to the book trade by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution
Address originally delivered June 26, 1996 to the 11th biennial Theatre Communications Group National Conference at Princeton University.
812.54 W691g 2001 (BCC ; also available at http://www.nathanielturner.com/groundonwhichistand.htm)
. 2001. Jitney. 1st ed. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press
"A thoroughly revised version of a play August Wilson first wrote in 1979, Jitney was produced in New York for the first time in the spring of 2000, winning rave reviews and the accolade of the New York Drama Critics Circle Award as the best play of the year. Set in the 1970s in Pittsburgh's Hill District, and depicting gypsy cabdrivers who serve black neighborhoods, Jitney is the seventh in Wilson's projected ten-play cycle (one for each decade) on the black experience in twentieth century America. He writes not about historical events or the pathologies of the black community, but, as he says, about "the unique particulars of black culture.I wanted to place this culture onstage in all its richness and fullness and to demonstrate its ability to sustain us.through profound moments in our history in which the larger society has thought less of us than we have thought of ourselves.""--BOOK JACKET.
812.54 W691ji 2001
. 2005. aunt ester's children: A CENTURY ON STAGE. American Theatre 22 (9):26.
. 2005. Radio Golf. American Theatre 22 (9):87.
Wilson, August, and Paul Carter Harrison. 1991. Three plays. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press
"August Wilson's blues poetics" / by Paul Carter Harrison: p. 291-317.
Ma Rainey's black bottom -- Fences -- Joe Turner's come and gone.
812.54 W691As 1991 (BCC, HSSE)
WORKS ABOUT AUGUST WILSON
Black Masks. May/June 2006.
A special edition that pays tribute to August Wilson features "A tribute to August Wilson" by Woodie King, Jr., "In memory of Uncle Freddy" by Kimberly Ellis, "A song for you: a Broadway salute to August Wilson" by Jeanette Toomer, "Remembering August" and "August's homegoing".
Armstrong, Linda. 2005. Broadway theater named for playwright Wilson. New York Amsterdam News 96 (43):21.
Bogumil, Mary L. 1999. Understanding August Wilson, Understanding contemporary American literature. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press
Understanding August Wilson as an African American playwright -- Ma Rainey's black bottom -- Fences -- Joe Turner's come and gone -- The piano lesson -- Two trains running -- Seven guitars.
Booker, Margaret. 2003. Lillian Hellman and August Wilson: dramatizing a new American identity. New York: Peter Lang
Diversity and the American dream: transformation from within -- Political activism and moral imperatives in the theoretical context -- The racial interface: construction of Blackness and whiteness -- Lillian Hellman: rewriting history -- August Wilson: talking history -- Freedom and responsibility: emergence of a new american identity.
812.4 H36Z B644 2003 (HSSE)
Bryer, Jackson R., and Mary C. Hartig. 2006. Conversations with August Wilson. 1st ed, Literary conversations series. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi
Publisher description: Collects a selection of the many interviews Wilson gave from 1984 to 2004. In the interviews, the playwright covers at length and in detail his plays and his background. He comments as well on such subjects as the differences between African Americans and whites, his call for more black theater companies, and his belief that African Americans made a mistake in assimilating themselves into the white mainstream. He also talks about his major influences, what he calls his "four B's"-- the blues, writers James Baldwin and Amiri Baraka, and painter Romare Bearden. Wilson also discusses his writing process and his multiple collaborations with director Lloyd Richards.
edited by Jackson R. Bryer and Mary C. Hartig.
An interview with August Wilson / -- August Wilson's bottomless blackness / -- August Wilson / -- Cool August: Mr. Wilson's red-hot blues / -- August Wilson: playwright / -- Hurdling fences / -- Black aesthetic: a conversation with playwright August Wilson / -- August Wilson: an interview / -- August Wilson explains his dramatic vision: an intervier / -- The historical perspective: an interview with August Wilson / -- Men, women, and culture: a conversation with August Wilson / -- August Wilson: bard of the blues / -- An interview with August Wilson / -- August Wilson on playwriting: an interview / -- Interview with August Wilson / -- A conversation with August Wilson / -- A 10-play odyssey continues with Gem of the ocean /
BCC RESERVE
812.54 W691B B845 2006 (HSSE)
Clark, Keith. 2002. Black manhood in James Baldwin, Ernest J. Gaines, and August Wilson. Urbana: University of Illinois Press
Countering the counterdiscourse: subject formation and the aesthetics of Black masculinist protest discourse since 1940 -- The perilous journey to a brother's country: James Baldwin and the rigors of community -- Reimagining Richard: Ernest Gaines and the neo-masculinist literary imagination -- Race, ritual, reconnection, reclamation: August Wilson and the refiguration of the male dramatic subject.
810.9896073 C548b 2002
Elam, Harry Justin. 2006. The past as present in the drama of August Wilson. First paperback edition 2006 ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press
(W)righting history: a meditation in four beats -- The music is the message -- Fools and babes -- The woman question -- Men of August -- Ogun in Pittsburgh: resurrecting the spirit -- The rhetoric of resistance by way of conclusion.
BCC RESERVE
812.54 W691Z EL13 2004 (HSSE)
Elkins, Marilyn Roberson. 2000. August Wilson: a casebook. New York: Garland
August Wilson and the four B's: influences / Mark William Rocha -- Wilson and Fugard: politics and art / Joanne Gordon -- The Bb burden: the invisibility of Ma Rainey's black bottom / Eileen Crawford -- August Wilson's folk traditions / Trudier Harris -- ghosts from "down there": the southernness of August Wilson / Patricia Gantt -- Father, son and Holy ghost: from the local to the mythical in August Wilson / Pamela jean Monaco -- Approaches to Africa: the poetics of memory and the body in two August Wilson plays / Gunilla Theander Kester -- Ma Rainey and the Boyz: gender ideology in August Wilson's Broadway canon / Kim Marra -- Developing his song: August Wilson's Fences / Joan Fishman -- Subtle imposition: the Lloyd Richards-August Wilson formula / Sandra G. Shannon -- Seven guitars: August Wilson's economy of blues / David L.G. Arnold -- Alternatives. opposites. convergences: an interview with Lloyd Richards / Richard Pettengill -- The historical perspective: an interview with August Wilson / Richard Pettengill.
BCC RESERVE
Herrington, Joan. 1998. I ain't sorry for nothin' I done: August Wilson's process of playwriting. New York: Limelight Editions
Process of playwriting: introduction -- August arrives: a brief biography -- Four "B's": August Wilson's inspiration -- Consequence of tolerance: the development of "Ma Rainey's black bottom" -- Problematic practice: August Wilson at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference -- Complexity of conflict: the development of "Fences" -- Cultural connection: the development of "Joe Turner's come and gone" -- Final knockout: August Wilson at the Yale Repertory Theatre and on the road to Broadway -- Jitney: August Wilson's round trip -- "I ain't sorry for nothin' I done": conclusion.
BCC RESERVE
King Jr, Woodie. 2006. Cycle of Life. Black Issues Book Review 8 (2):30.
Madhubuti, Haki R. 2005. In Memoriam August Wilson: 1945-2005. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education 22 (19):19.
Maufort, Marc. 1995. Staging difference: cultural pluralism in American theatre and drama, American university studies. Series XXVI, Theatre arts, v. 25. New York: P. Lang
[1.] Cultural pluralism and performance -- [2.] The canon of American drama -- [3.] The emergence of a new multicultural drama -- Appendices.
Plimpton, George, and Bonnie Lyons. 2000. The art of theater XIV. Paris Review 41 (153):66. http://www.theparisreview.org/media/839_WILSON.pdf
Interviews American playwright August Wilson. Reason for being attracted to theater; Start of career in theater; Venture into poetry writing; Influences including Romare Bearden; Comments on plays written including `Fences'; Work habits; Importance given to the plot when writing plays; Teaching drama writing.
MEDIA
August Wilson. [videorecording] 1988.
Bill Moyers talks with playwright August Wilson, about how music and literature has shaped his philosophy of life. Tells how he wrote some of the country's most compelling dramas, including "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and "Fences." Wilson discusses the importance of the blues in his life and his writing. Talks about finding an African-American cultural identity and what he sees as the false portrayal of black America on television.
VC4114
Wilson, August, Matteo Bellinelli, Larry Adelman, Barbara Christian, California Newsreel (Firm), Schweizerische Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft., Radiotelevisione della Svizzera italiana., and Films for the Humanities (Firm). 1994. August Wilson. Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities. videorecording.
Playwright August Wilson talks about his roots in the black community, how his plays express the African-American experience, how the African heritage of Black Americans is both expressed and repressed in American society today, and the importance of blues as cultural expression.
SSR-RTSI Swiss Television production; producer & director, Matteo Bellinelli.
Originally produced as a television program in 1992.
"A California Newsreel release."
Narrator: Edwina Moore.
BCC
August Wilson: Conversations with African American Writers. [videorecording]1994.
Describes Wilson's award-winning plays: Fences, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom as passing down the wisdom of the African-American community. Filmed on the set of Two Trains Running, Wilson traces his work back to a troubled childhood in a Pittsburgh ghetto. His on-going project to write a play on African-American life set in each decade of the 20th century is one of the most ambitious endeavors in American theatrical history.
VC4690
Piano Lesson [videorecording] 1995. [New York, NY]: [Hallmark].
This tale of a family caught between their heritage and a dream for the future earned August Wilson a Pulitzer Prize. The Charles Family clashes over the fate of a magnificent, carved piano that carries their family's story from their days as slaves. Boy Willie wants to sell the piano to buy a farm--the same fields their family worked as slaves. But his sister, Berneice, refuses to part with it. For her, the piano is their very soul, a legacy of pride and struggle that symbolizes their survival as a family. To resolve the conflict they must first deal with the past.
VC6942
Present and Future Direction of African-American Theatre, Program 4. [videorecording] 1991.
Presents some exerpts from recent plays: "Fences" written by August Wilson and a Pulitizer Prize winner. Tells the story of a father and son and how they don't understand each other; "The Colored Museum" is the story of black empowerment. Stars Yvetta, William Gentry, and William H. True.
VIDEOCASSETTE SOUND COLOR 15 Min. (VHS format)
Voices. [[videorecording ] 1990. MILLERB.
Presents a salute to black authors featuring the Negro Ensemble Company with a sampler of works from several authors at the 1990 Gallery of Greats. Includes dramatic presentations of three poems and exerpts from two plays and three novels. Featured authors include Maya Angelou, Ernest J. Gaines, August Wilson, David Bradley, John A. Williams, Rita Dove, Charles H. Fuller, Jr., and Amiri Baraka
VC2023
WEBSITES
August Wilson. Retrieved September 12, 2006, from http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=4362.
Lists the original productions of Wilson's ten-cycle plays. Highlights awards and nominations and provides number of previews and performances, production credits, cast members, directors, producers, etc.
August Wilson. Retrieved September 24, 2006, from http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/wilson_a.htm.
August Wilson 4/27/45-10/2/06: an August heritage: the Pittsburg cycle. Retrieved September 12, 2006, from http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03001/497623.stm.
Includes selected articles from the Post-Gazatte archives covering August Wilson's life and career. The articles are categorized according to: Obituary and other responses to his death, August Wilson's own words, Interviews with August Wilson on his career, Reviews, Biography, events, news, Overviews and commentary, Others connected to Wilson, interviews or news, Miscellaneous. Links to other coverage include his funeral, timeline and a photo journal.
(February 10, 1998). August Wilson @ Dartmouth. Retrieved September 10, 2006, from http://www.dartmouth.edu/~awilson
This website is devoted to the life, works, and influence of playwright August Wilson. His profound influence as a Montgomery Fellow here at Dartmouth College has motivated undergraduate students to create an ongoing dialogue about him.
**There are hundreds of scholarly and popular articles about Mr. Wilson. Researchers at Purdue are encourage to search the following databases available on the University Libraries Webpage at http://gemini.lib.purdue.edu/eresource/result2.cfm
Academic Search Premier
Black Studies Center
Humanities Abstracts
Literature Resources Center