Suzan-Lori Parks facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Suzan-Lori Parks
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Parks in 2006
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| Born | May 10, 1963 Fort Knox, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Occupation | Playwright, screenwriter |
| Education | Mount Holyoke College (BA) Drama Studio London |
| Notable awards | Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2002) |
| Spouse |
Paul Oscher
(m. 2001; div. 2010)Christian Konopka (current) |
| Children | 1 |
Suzan-Lori Parks (born May 10, 1963) is a famous American playwright, screenwriter, musician, and novelist. She writes plays for the stage and scripts for movies.
In 2002, her play Topdog/Underdog won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This was a big moment because Parks was the first African-American woman to win this award for a play. In 2023, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Early Life and Education
Suzan-Lori Parks was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky. She grew up in a military family with two siblings. Her family moved often because her father was in the United States Army.
As a child, Parks loved writing poems and songs. She even made a newspaper with her brother called the "Daily Daily." She went to high school in Germany when her father was stationed there. This experience helped her understand what it felt like to be different. After returning to the U.S., her family continued to move a lot. She attended schools in many states, including Kentucky, Texas, and California.
In high school, Parks was interested in chemistry. However, after reading a book by Virginia Woolf, she became very interested in writing. She went to Mount Holyoke College and graduated in 1985. There, she studied English and German literature.
A famous writer named James Baldwin encouraged her to become a playwright. At first, Parks wasn't sure about writing for theater. But Baldwin saw her talent and told her she could become "one of the most valuable artists of our time." She then studied acting for a year at Drama Studio London.
Parks also looked up to Wendy Wasserstein, another Mount Holyoke graduate who won a Pulitzer Prize for her play.
Career Highlights
Suzan-Lori Parks has written many plays for the stage. She has also written screenplays for movies. Her first movie script was for Spike Lee's film Girl 6 in 1996. Later, she worked with Oprah Winfrey's company on scripts for Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005) and The Great Debaters (2007).
Parks made history in 2002 when she won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Topdog/Underdog. This made her the first African American woman to receive this honor. She has also received many other important awards. These include the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant in 2001. This award is given to talented people who show great creativity.
In 2017, she won the Master American Dramatist award from PEN America. In 2018, she received the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award. This award honors playwrights who have made big contributions to American theater.
Betting on the Dust Commander
Betting on the Dust Commander was the first play by Parks to be performed. It was shown for three nights in a bar in New York City. The play is a short story about an old couple, Mare and Lucius, who have been married for 110 years.
The play's title comes from a horse named Dust Commander. This horse won the Kentucky Derby race in 1970. The couple remembers that Dust Commander's win brought them together. As they talk about the horse, they remember many happy memories from their long life.
Topdog/Underdog
One of Parks's most famous plays is Topdog/Underdog. This play tells the story of two African-American brothers named Lincoln and Booth. Lincoln works at a boardwalk arcade. He dresses up like Abraham Lincoln and lets tourists shoot him with plastic guns.
Parks admires Abraham Lincoln. She felt he left an important legacy for the descendants of slaves. She said that Lincoln is like a "mythic figure" for Americans. She wanted to explore how such a figure could affect the lives of everyday people.
365 Plays/365 Days
After writing her book Getting Mother's Body, Parks decided to challenge herself. She aimed to write 365 plays in 365 days. This amazing project was later performed as 365 Plays/365 Days.
Over 700 performing arts groups worked together to present all the plays. The performances started in 2006 in New York City. They also took place in colleges and theaters around the world, including England and Australia.
Father Comes Home From the Wars, Parts 1, 2 & 3
Father Comes Home From the Wars, Parts 1, 2 & 3 first opened in New York City in 2014. It was directed by Jo Bonney. This play takes place during the American Civil War. It is told in three parts.
The play was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Pulitzer committee praised it as a "distinctive and lyrical epic." They noted how it explored ideas of identity, power, and freedom with humor and dignity.
The Red Letter Plays
Suzan-Lori Parks wrote two plays that are often called "The Red Letter Plays." Both plays feature a mother named Hester. She struggles in a society that treats her like an outcast. The first play, In the Blood, came out in 1999. It tells the story of Hester, a poor mother of five. This play was a finalist for the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
In 2017, a theater company performed both plays in the same season. Parks was excited for people to see how the two plays connected.
Sally & Tom
In 2022, a new play by Parks called Sally & Tom began performances. This play is about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. It was shown at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.
Plays for the Plague Year
Plays for the Plague Year is a collection of plays and songs. It shares Parks's thoughts and feelings during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. It also touches on the deaths of Black Americans killed by police officers during that time. Parks performed this work herself, singing and starring in it.
The Harder They Come
In 2023, Parks created a musical version of the 1972 Jamaican reggae film The Harder They Come. This musical was staged at The Public Theater in New York City.
Works
Theatre
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Screenplays
- Girl 6 (1996)
- Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005)
- Native Son (2019)
- The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)
Essays
- "An Equation for Black People Onstage". In The America Play and Other Works, 19–22. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1995.
- "From the Elements of Style". In The America Play and Other Works, 6–18. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1995.
- "Possession." In The America Play and Other Works, 3–5. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1995.
- "Tradition and the Individual Talent". Theater 29.2 (1999): 26–33.
Awards and Recognition
- 1990: Obie Award Best New American Play – Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom
- 1992: Whiting Award
- 1995: Lila-Wallace Reader's Digest Award
- 1996: Obie Award for Playwriting – Venus
- 2000: Guggenheim Fellowship Playwriting
- 2000: Pulitzer Prize Drama finalist – In The Blood
- 2001: MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant
- 2002: Pulitzer Prize for Drama – Topdog/Underdog
- 2002: Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play nomination – Topdog/Underdog
- 2002: Tony Award for Best Play nomination – Topdog/Underdog
- 2006: Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts from the Council for the Arts at MIT (CAMIT)
- 2007: Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award
- 2008: NAACP Theatre Award - Ray Charles Live! A New Musical
- 2015: Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History - "Father Comes Home From the Wars, Parts 1, 2 & 3"
- 2015: Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize
- 2015: Lucille Lortel Outstanding Play Award nomination - Father Comes Home From the Wars, Parts 1, 2 & 3
- 2015: Pulitzer Prize Drama finalist - Father Comes Home From the Wars, Parts 1, 2 & 3
- 2017: PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Awards for Master American Dramatist
- 2018: Windham–Campbell Literature Prize in Drama
- 2019: Outer Critics Circle Award, Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play — White Noise
- 2023: Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play -Topdog/Underdog
- 2024: Royal Society of Literature International Writer
Personal Life
In 2001, Suzan-Lori Parks married blues musician Paul Oscher. They later divorced in 2010. By 2017, she married Christian Konopka, and they have one child.
Parks also shares her knowledge with others. She teaches playwriting at Tisch School of the Arts in New York City.
