Parks, Suzan-Lori, 1963-

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Suzan-Lori Parks (born May 10, 1963) is an American playwright, screenwriter, musician and novelist. Her 2001 play Topdog/Underdog won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002; Parks is the first African American woman to achieve this honor for drama.

Parks was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky. She grew up with two siblings in a military family. Parks enjoyed writing poems and songs and created a newspaper with her brother, called the "Daily Daily". Parks attended high school in West Germany, where her father, a career officer in the United States Army, was stationed. The experience showed her "what it feels like to be neither white nor black, but simply foreign". After returning to the U.S., Parks's family relocated frequently and she attended school in Kentucky, Texas, California, North Carolina, Maryland, and Vermont. She graduated high school from The John Carroll School in 1981 while her father was stationed in Aberdeen Proving Ground. In high school, Parks was discouraged from studying literature by at least one teacher, but upon reading Virginia Woolf's To the Light House, Parks found herself veering away from her interest in chemistry, gravitating towards writing. Parks attended Mount Holyoke College and became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She graduated in 1985 with a B.A. in English and German literature. She studied under James Baldwin, who encouraged her to become a playwright; Parks was initially resistant to writing for theater, believing that it was "where a lot of people with too much attitude wore funny clothes and funny little costumes, and they talked with funny little voices even though they were from, like, New York or New Jersey. And I didn't respect that." Parks began to take classes with Baldwin and, at his behest, began to write plays. Baldwin later described Parks as, "an utterly astounding and beautiful creature who may become one of the most valuable artists of our time." Parks then studied acting for a year at Drama Studio London.

Parks also noted that she was inspired by Wendy Wasserstein, a 1971 Mount Holyoke graduate who won the Pulitzer in 1989 for her play The Heidi Chronicles. Parks also credited another Mount Holyoke professor, Leah Blatt Glasser, with her success.

Parks has written three screenplays and numerous stage-plays. Her first screenplay was for Spike Lee's 1996 film Girl 6. She later worked with Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions on screenplays for Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005) and The Great Debaters (2007).

Parks became the first female African-American to receive the Pulitzer Prize, which was awarded in 2002 for her play Topdog/Underdog. She has also received a number of grants including the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant in 2001. She is a winner of the 2017 Poets, Essayists and Novelists (PEN) America Literary Awards in the category Master American Dramatist. She received the 2018 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Parks, Suzan-Lori. Topdog/Underdog: typescript, 1999. New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Parks, Suzan-Lori. Suzan-Lori Parks papers, circa 1967-2003 Houghton Library
referencedIn Prompt books and related materials from productions at the Harvard University Loeb Drama Center Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
creatorOf Strouse, Charles. Golden boy: typescript, 2002. New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Parks, Suzan-Lori. Fucking A / by Suzan-Lori Parks ; music and lyrics by Suzan-Lori Parks, 2000. New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Hopwood Awards Collection, 1930- University of Michigan
creatorOf Parks, Suzan-Lori. Their eyes were watching God : screenplay, 2004. New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn Harriet Wasserman Literary Agency. Harriet Wasserman Literary Agency records, [1940s]-2000 and n.d. (bulk 1978-1995). Duke University Libraries, Duke University Library; Perkins Library
creatorOf Parks, Suzan-Lori. MHC 2001 commencement speech / Suzan-Lori Parks. Mount Holyoke College, Williston & Miles-Smith Library
referencedIn Miscellaneous screen, stage, and radio scripts, ca. 1859-2007. Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
creatorOf Taylor, Regina, 1960-. Urban Zulu mambo / by Regina Taylor, Suzan Lori-Parks, Ntozake Shange, and Kia Corthron ; conceived and performed by Regina Taylor , 2001. New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Parks, Suzan-Lori. Getting Mother's body [kit] : [a Gab bag for book discussion groups] / Suzan-Lori Parks. Williamsburg regional library
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf The HistoryMakers Video Oral History with Suzan-Lori Parks The HistoryMakers
Place Name Admin Code Country
New York (N.Y.)
Texas
Fort Knox (Ky.)
Subject
Abortion
Abortion services
African American families
Book clubs (Discussion groups)
Conduct of life
Group reading
Poor families
Social conflict
Treasure troves
Young women
Occupation
Playwright
Playwrights
Screenwriters
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Person

Birth 1963-05-10

Birth 19630510

Americans

English

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