August Wilson

August Wilson (April 27, 1945—October 2, 2005) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright. Wilson's literary legacy is a cycle of ten plays—two of which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama—dubbed "The Pittsburgh Cycle". Each is set in a different decade, depicting the comedy and tragedy of the African-American experience in the 20th century. "This cycle," notes the theater critic Christopher Rawson, "is unprecedented in American theater for its concept, size, and cohesion." Born Frederick August Kittel in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wilson was the fourth of six children. His father was a German immigrant baker, also named Frederick August Kittel, who seldom spent time with his family, and his mother was an African American cleaning woman, Daisy Wilson, from North Carolina. Earlier, Wilson's maternal grandmother walked from North Carolina to Pennsylvania in search of a better life. Wilson's parents stayed together until he was five. His mother raised their... full article at wikipedia