Whiting Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 2 (1986) Winner
August Wilson
オーガスト・ウィルソン
August Wilson
Aliases:
Frederick August Kittel Jr.
Pen Names:
Frederick August Kittel Jr.（Birth name. Later adopted his mother's surname and worked as August Wilson.）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1945-04-27 （Hill District, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.）
- Died
- 2005-10-02 （Seattle, Washington, U.S. (Swedish Medical Center)） age 60
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Islam (associated with the Nation of Islam)
- Residence History
- Pittsburgh (Hill District, Hazelwood) → Saint Paul, Minnesota → Seattle, Washington
Career
- Occupations
- playwright, writer
- Active Years
- 1965-2005
- Affiliations
- Black Horizon Theater (co-founder), Kuntu Writers Workshop (co-founder), Seattle Repertory Theatre (collaboration)
- Influenced By
- Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Bessie Smith (blues), Jorge Luis Borges, Amiri Baraka, Romare Bearden, James Baldwin
- Influenced
- Later generations of Black playwrights and actors (through performers and adaptors such as Viola Davis and Denzel Washington), American theatre more broadly (influence on late-20th and early-21st century drama)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh | — | — | 名誉高等学校卒業証書（図書館より） | 自学（少年期） | United States |
| University of Pittsburgh (honorary doctorate) | — | — | 名誉人文学博士 | — | United States |
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Degree:
名誉高等学校卒業証書（図書館より）
Period:
自学（少年期）
Country:
United States
Dropped out of high school. Self-educated via the Carnegie Library and later awarded an honorary high school diploma.
University of Pittsburgh (honorary doctorate)
Degree:
名誉人文学博士
Country:
United States
Received honorary degrees including an honorary Doctor of Humanities from the University of Pittsburgh. Served as a trustee 1992–1995.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Pulitzer Prize for Drama | Fences | Drama | Pulitzer Prize Board | Won |
| 1990 | Pulitzer Prize for Drama | The Piano Lesson | Drama | Pulitzer Prize Board | Won |
| 1987 | Tony Award (Best Play) | Fences | Best Play | Tony Awards | Won |
| 1986 | Whiting Award | — | — | Whiting Foundation | Won |
| 2004 | Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities | — | Arts and Humanities | The Heinz Family Foundation | Won |
| 2006 | American Theater Hall of Fame | — | — | American Theater Hall of Fame | Inducted |
| 2017 | Academy Awards (Best Adapted Screenplay) | Fences (film) | Best Adapted Screenplay | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences | Nominated |
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
1987
Work:
Fences
Category:
Drama
Organization:
Pulitzer Prize Board
Result:
Won
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
1990
Work:
The Piano Lesson
Category:
Drama
Organization:
Pulitzer Prize Board
Result:
Won
Tony Award (Best Play)
1987
Work:
Fences
Category:
Best Play
Organization:
Tony Awards
Result:
Won
Whiting Award
1986
Organization:
Whiting Foundation
Result:
Won
Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities
2004
Category:
Arts and Humanities
Organization:
The Heinz Family Foundation
Result:
Won
American Theater Hall of Fame
2006
Organization:
American Theater Hall of Fame
Result:
Inducted
Academy Awards (Best Adapted Screenplay)
2017
Work:
Fences (film)
Category:
Best Adapted Screenplay
Organization:
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Result:
Nominated
Awards & Nominations
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
2 appearances
-
Edition 58 (1987) Winner
-
Edition 61 (1990) Winner
St. Louis Literary Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 24 (1991) Winner
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 70 (2005) Lifetime Achievement Award
Works
Major Works
Fences
1985 Play (Drama)Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, the play follows Troy, a former baseball player, and his family's struggles—exploring dreams, pride, and intergenerational conflict.
familyracial discriminationdreams and disappointmentpride
Adaptations
- [Film] Fences (2016 film) / Denzel Washington (2016)
The Piano Lesson
1990 Play (Drama)Centers on a family's dispute over an heirloom piano; ancestral memory and African American history intersect, with supernatural elements and tradition playing key roles.
memory and legacyancestral spiritualityownership and identity
Adaptations
- [Film] The Piano Lesson (2024 film) / Malcolm Washington (2024)
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
1984 Play (Drama)Set in a 1920s Chicago recording studio, it depicts tensions between blues singer Ma Rainey and her bandmates—exploring art vs. commerce and racial issues.
music (blues)art vs. commercerace relations
Adaptations
- [Film] Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020 film) / George C. Wolfe (2020)
Jitney
1982 Play (Drama)Set in 1970s Pittsburgh, it portrays the men who run a jitney cab depot and their community's everyday life and changes.
communitymigration and mobilityeconomic hardship
Joe Turner's Come and Gone
1986 Play (Drama)Deals with migration and identity in the early 20th century, exploring lost pasts and belonging within the Black community.
identityGreat Migrationsearch for history
Gem of the Ocean
2003 Play (Drama)Set in the early 20th century, centered on the symbolic character Aunt Ester, exploring home, memory, and liberation.
historyritual and symbolismliberation
Radio Golf
2005 Play (Drama)Radio Golf is the final play of Wilson's Century Cycle, dealing with urban redevelopment and conflicts over community memory.
urban redevelopmentmemory and legacypolitics and economics
Bibliography
- Recycle
- The Homecoming
- Jitney
- Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
- Fences
- Joe Turner's Come and Gone
- The Piano Lesson
- Two Trains Running
- Seven Guitars
- King Hedley II
- Gem of the Ocean
- Radio Golf
- How I Learned What I Learned
Adaptations
- Fences film adaptation (2016)
- Ma Rainey's Black Bottom film adaptation (2020)
- The Piano Lesson film adaptation (2024)
Translations of Works
- Fences (Japanese translations, various editions)
- The Piano Lesson (Japanese translations available)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- poetic realism infused with blues rhythms and vernacularfaithful rendering of dialects and character voices
- Recurring Motifs
- family and generational conflictmemory and ancestral spiritualitymusic (especially the blues)urbanization and migration
Health
-
Hepatocellular carcinoma2005年6月–2005年10月Diagnosed June 2005 and died in October 2005. Spent his final months undergoing treatment and convalescence.
Legacy
August Wilson is renowned for his ten-play 'Pittsburgh Cycle' documenting the Black American experience in the 20th century. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in American theater, widely awarded and whose works continue via film adaptations and educational initiatives.
Museums
- August Wilson African American Cultural Center Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- August Wilson House (childhood home / historic site) 1727 Bedford Avenue, Pittsburgh
Academic Societies
Archives
- August Wilson Archive, University of Pittsburgh Library System
In Popular Culture
- Namesake of Broadway's August Wilson Theatre (renamed 2005)
- Film adaptations (Fences 2016, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom 2020, The Piano Lesson 2024) brought his work to wider audiences
- Featured on a U.S. Postal Service 2021 Forever stamp
- Hollywood Walk of Fame star awarded in 2025
Quotes
-
His writing "captures our humor, our vulnerabilities, our tragedies, our trauma. And he humanizes us. And he allows us to talk."
Source: Viola Davis (quoted in interviews) (2020)
Trivia
- Born Frederick August Kittel Jr.; later legally and professionally used his mother's surname, August Wilson.
- Childhood home at 1727 Bedford Avenue in Pittsburgh is a designated historic landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.
- The Virginia Theatre on Broadway was renamed the August Wilson Theatre in 2005.
- Works continue to be adapted and taught; his legacy is preserved through programs such as the National August Wilson Monologue Competition.
- Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2025.