Who is Suzan Lori Parks?

For those of you whom are unfamiliar with SLP-Let’s take a glimpse at Suzan Lori Parks life and work-

Suzan Lori Parks was born on May 10, 1963 in Fort Knox, Kentucky. She attended a German high school (her father was in the military) and attended college at Mount Holyoke College. In 2002 Parks became the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Topdog/Underdog. Other plays include: Fucking A, Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom (1990 Obie Award for Best New American Play), The American Play, Venus (1996 Obie Award), The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, and In the Blood (Pulitzer Prize Finalist). In 1989 she was named the “year’s most promising playwright” in the New York Times.

Park’s approach to language is partly vernacular as she attempts to reproduce speech both at it is spoken and as her audience assumes it may be spoken.  She demonstrates a passion for searching for knowledge, history and identity, evident in all of her work.

In my opinion, what makes her work unique is the language she uses, which is often jagged yet incredibly lyrical and very open for interpretation.  She has one of the most unique and recognizable writing styles in contemporary literature, which I encourage everyone to explore.