Sandra Seaton facts for kids

Sandra Cecelia Seaton is an American writer who creates plays and opera stories (called librettos). She won the Mark Twain Award in 2012. Before becoming a full-time writer, Seaton taught English at Central Michigan University for 15 years. She taught creative writing and African-American literature to her students.

About Sandra Seaton

Early Life and Family

Sandra Seaton was born in Columbia, Tennessee. Her parents, Albert Sampson Browne Jr. and Hattye Evans, were both teachers. When Sandra was young, her parents divorced. In 1949, her mother remarried, and the family moved to Chicago.

Sandra's grandmother, Emma Louish Evans, was a big influence on her. Emma often performed in amateur minstrel shows. She taught Sandra to be proud of her family member, Flournoy Miller. He wrote the story for Shuffle Along, an important all-Black musical from 1921.

Education and Marriage

Sandra Seaton went to Farragut High School in Chicago. She then earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Later, she received a Master of Arts degree in creative writing from Michigan State University. She is also a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Sandra Seaton is married to James Seaton. He is a literary critic and an English professor at Michigan State University. They have four children together.

Sandra Seaton's Career

Sandra Seaton has written many different types of works. She has written 14 plays, several opera librettos, a spoken-word piece, and short stories.

Early Plays and Recognition

Her first play, The Bridge Party, was performed in 1998 at the University of Michigan. This play was inspired by events in her local area. It was later included in a collection of plays called Strange Fruit: Plays on Lynching by American Women. Michigan State University has also featured her works in their Michigan Writers Series.

Opera Librettos

Seaton wrote the story for the opera From the Diary of Sally Hemings in 2001. The music for this opera was composed by William Bolcom. The story is a fictional look into the thoughts of Sarah "Sally" Hemings. She was an enslaved woman believed to have had a relationship with Thomas Jefferson.

To write this, Seaton spent over a year researching history. She wanted to create a "diary" that felt real for that time period. It was challenging because there are no writings from Sally Hemings herself. The opera was first performed by mezzo-soprano Florence Quivar at places like the Library of Congress. In 2010, soprano Alyson Cambridge performed it at Carnegie Hall.

Seaton continued to explore the story of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson in two plays. These are Sally, a play for one actor, and A Bed Made in Heaven, which has many characters.

Other Notable Works

Seaton's play The Will tells the story of an African-American family in Tennessee. It takes place during the Reconstruction period after the Civil War. This play was performed in Idlewild, Michigan, a historic Black resort, in 2008. The character Patti in The Will was inspired by Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield. She was an African-American opera singer from the Civil War era.

Sandra Seaton has also written comedies. Martha Stewart Slept Here premiered in 2008. It is set in an Indiana trailer park. Estate Sale, a comedy set in a Cleveland suburb, premiered in 2011.

Her play Music History is about African-American college students at the University of Illinois. It also covers the SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and the fight for civil rights. In 2010, Michigan State University held a special event about this play. They discussed how drama can help us understand issues of fairness and equality.

In 2020, Seaton worked with composer Carlos Simon on a piece called Night Trip. It was performed at the Kennedy Center. Critics praised Seaton's words, saying they were poetic and blended well with the music.

Sandra Seaton taught creative writing and African-American literature at Central Michigan University for 15 years.

Works by Sandra Seaton

Plays

• The Bridge Party (1989)
• The Will (1994)
• Do You Like Philip Roth? (2001)
• Room and Board (2002)
• Sally (2003)
• A Bed Made In Heaven (2005)
• Martha Stewart Slept Here (2008)
• A Chance Meeting (2009)
• Music History (2010)
• Estate Sale (2011)
• The Lookout (2013)
• Black for Dinner (2014)
• Chicago Trilogy (2015)
• The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson (2021)

Musicals

• Ogden Avenue (2016)

Films

• From the Diary of Sally Hemings, Glimmer Glass Festival (2020)
• Call Me By Name, Atlanta Black Theatre Festival (2020)
• Call Me By Name, excerpted in Hear Our Cry, (2020)
• The First Bluebird in the Morning, (2020)

Other Writings

• "Nightsong" [short story], Obsidian II: Black Literature in Review (Winter 1989)
• King: A Reflection on the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (2005). This is a spoken word piece with singing.
• Libretto: From The Diary of Sally Hemings, Music by William Bolcom (2000).
• Libretto: Vegetarian Wedding, Music by Eric Santos, (2004)
• Libretto: Night Trip, Music by Carlos Simon (2020)
• Libretto: The First Bluebird in the Morning, Music by Carlos Simon (2020)
• Libretto: She Steps onto a Floating Stage, aria, Music by Carlos Simon (2021)
• Libretto: Divided Soul, aria, Music by Carlos Simon (2022)
• Libretto: Rebellious Bird, aria, Music by Carlos Simon (2022)
• Libretto: Dreamland: Tulsa 1921, Ploratorio, Music by Marques L. A. Garrett (2022)

Awards and Honors

Sandra Seaton has received several awards and special recognitions:

• Annual Emma Lou Thornbrough Lecture, IUPUI and Butler University, November 2008
• Inaugural writer-in-residence, Michigan State University College of Law 2010-11
• Mark Twain Award from The Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature. 2012
• Theodore Ward Prize
• Residencies: Yaddo and Ragdale artist colonies.