Fences
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 August Wilson born on April 27, 1945, and died on October 2nd, 2005.  His dad was white and his mother was black, growing up with five siblings.  He grew up in a poor neighborhood in Pittsburg.  Dropped out of school at the age of 15 and turned to self education at the Carnegie Library.  He changed his name in 1965 after his father died to honor his mother.  In 1965 he started writing poetry after buying his first typewriter.   Drawn to play writing through the civil rights movement, in 1968 he co-founded the Black Horizon Theater.  His first two works didn't gain much recognition, but his third piece "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" excited the viewers and won him wide recognition as an interpreter of the American experience.  Later on in his coreer he won many awards for his work, such as the Tony Award (1985), New York Drama Critics Circle Award (1985), Pulitzer Award (1990).

"August Wilson." 2011. Biography.com. 17 Apr 2011, 07:18 http://www.biography.com/articles/August-Wilson-9533583.

"Fences: Author Biography." Drama for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 17 April 2011. <http://www.enotes.com/fences/author-biography>.

Claire and Mac