Suzan-Lori Parks

By car2298630

  • Suzan-Lori Parks born

    Suzan-Lori Parks born
    Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks was born on May 10 1963 in Fort Knox, Kentucky to Francis McMillian Parks and Donald Parks, a colonel in the United States Army.

  • College

    College
    She attended college at Mount Holyoke College and studied fiction writing with James Baldwin, who recommended that she focus on writing for the theater.

  • Graduating from college

    Graduating from college
    Parks graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Mount Holyoke in 1985. She graduated with a B.A. in English and German literature.

  • London

    London
    Parks moved to London and started her career as a playwright.

  • First Play

    First Play
    Her first produced play was the one-act Betting on the Dust Commander. It debuted at The Gas Station, a bar Parks frequented on Manhattan's Lower East Side, that had never hosted a play before. She paid the actors and the director out of her own pocket.

  • Obie Award

    Obie Award
    Parks play Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom was awarded an Obie Award for the best Off-Broadway play of 1989.

  • The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole World

    The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole World
    Parks published The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole World in 1990. The play is an abstract exploration of black trauma populated by Biblical characters, historical figures, and racial stereotypes.

  • Topdog/Underdog

    Topdog/Underdog
    Parks’ play Topdog/Underdog was produced to critical acclaim. It followed the story of two brothers and their growing tension, and starred Jeffrey Wright and Don Cheadle.

  • Suzan and Paul

    Suzan and Paul
    Parks married a blues musician Paul Oscher and now live in Venice Beach, California.

  • Pulitzer Prize

    Pulitzer Prize
    Her play Topdog/Underdog won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002. Parks was the first African-American woman to receive the award for drama.

  • 365 Days/365 Plays

    365 Days/365 Plays
    Parks decided that she wanted to give herself the task of writing 365 plays in 365 days, hence her play 365 Plays/365 Days. This decision was made shortly after one of her books, Getting Mother's Body, was published. She kept herself on schedule and succeeded. She wrote anywhere she had to: on the road, hotel rooms, and modes of transportation. The result has been produced by more than 700 theaters around the world.

  • First Novel

    First Novel
    Parks published her first novel, Getting Mother’s Body, an experimental retelling of Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying.

  • First Teleplay

    First Teleplay
    Parks co-wrote her first teleplay: an adaption of Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, starring Halle Berry and produced by Oprah Winfrey.

  • Divorce

    Divorce
    After 9 years, Parks and Oscher divorced.

  • Pulitzer Prize

    Pulitzer Prize
    The author of nine full-length plays thus far, Parks was again shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize in 2015.

  • Suzan-Lori Parks and Christian Konopa

    Suzan-Lori Parks and Christian Konopa
    Parks and Konopa got married in 2017.

  • After Marriage

    After Marriage
    Parks now lives in New York City with her husband and their son Patrick.

  • 2018 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award

    2018 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award
    She received the 2018 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award. This biennial award is given to "established playwrights whose body of work has made significant contributions to the American theatre."

  • Obie Award

    Obie Award
    In 2019, she won her second Obie Award for playwriting (and third total) for White Noise

  • Time Magazine

    Time Magazine
    She was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023.