August Wilson

An item at American Writers Museum

Just before his death, August Wilson completed the last installment of his ten-play cycle chronicling the African-American experience in the 20th century. The plays were written to be performed independently but share certain elements. Several feature the same characters, including Aunt Ester, a 300-year-old spiritual guide. Most take place in Pittsburgh, where Wilson grew up and established the Black Horizon Theatre in 1968.

The plays all celebrate, in Wilson's words, the "richness and fullness" of African-American culture and "its ability to sustain us ... through profound moments of our history." Wilson, hailed as "theater's poet of Black America" by The New York Times, won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for Fences (1983), and another Pulitzer for The Piano Lesson (1987).

AMERICAN VOICES

An exhibit at American Writers Museum

American writing is distinctive, diverse, and comes in many forms from across the nation. The 100 authors featured here represent the evolution of American writing. Learn more about each writer on the timeline by turning the panels below their portraits. Explore centuries of writing by pulling, turning, and touching the interactive elements on the counter.

This is not meant to be a list of the greatest or most influential writers. Instead, we present authors and works as part of the American story as it grows and changes. Taken together, this rich literary heritage reflects America in all of its complexity: its energy, hope, conflict, disillusionment, and creativity.

American Writers Museum