August Wilson

Ted Hendricks (Towson University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.5: African American Writing and Culture of the United States.
Vol. editors: Philathia Bolton (University of Akron), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), A Yemisi Jimoh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Dates

Born 27 Apr 1945
Died 2 Oct 2005
Activity 1965-2005

Places

Born in United States
Active in United States

Cultural Identities

African American

Activities

Primary

Playwright / Dramatist
Poet

Resources

Wilson's Works

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August Wilson (1945-2005) is an African-American playwright best known for a series of ten plays about the experience of black Americans in the 20th century. Each play is set in Wilson’s hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and takes place in a different decade of that century.

Wilson was born Frederick August Kittel. He has three older sisters and two younger brothers. Wilson’s father, Frederick Kittel, was white; according to Wilson and his sisters Kittle immigrated from Austro-Hungary in 1915 at the age of ten and became a baker. Wilson’s mother, Daisy Wilson, was born in Pittsburgh. August Wilson took his mother’s maiden name after his father died in 1965. There is no biography of Wilson; the published information about his personal life comes chiefly from interviews with

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2404 words

Citation: Hendricks, Ted. "August Wilson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 August 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4747, accessed 16 April 2024.]

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