I'm encouraging people to rethink what a black play is, that a black play is perhaps a work of theatre that invites everyone to the table. A lot of the folks who came to see 'Topdog/Underdog' were African-American kids, young folks. Most of them had never really been to a play before. So that was their first experience in the theatre. They didn't know to show up when the curtain said eight o'clock. And they were coming in with their cell phones on. And it was fantastic. Often in the black community, the audience feels that they are an active participant. We have to mine those riches more and celebrate those riches more. I think often times we forget who we are. 
-- Suzan-Lori Parks
Suzan-Lori Parks was born into a military family May 10, 1963 in Fort Knox, Kentucky. In 1974, her father became stationed in Germany, so the entire family moved there. Instead of staying on the base and attending English-speaking schools, they attended local schools and became fluent in German.
Parks enrolled at Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts, and finished with a degree in English and German literature. After graduation, Parks spent a year in London acting so she could better understand what it meant to be part of the stage. When she returned to the US, she moved to New York City, and began writing one-act plays and performing them in local coffeehouses and bars. Her first full-length play in
1989, Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom, won her an Obie award for Off-Broadway's award for best new play.
Since then, she has gone on to write numerous successful plays, none more so than 2001's TopDog/Underdog, which earned her the Pulitzer Prize for Drama that year, becoming the first African-American to receive the honor. She has also been a recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Award as well as named by Time Magazine as one of the "100 Innovators for the Next New Wave." Her 2007's 365 Plays/365 Days has been produced in over 700 theaters worldwide, creating one of the largest grassroots collaborations in theater history.
Parks enrolled at Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts, and finished with a degree in English and German literature. After graduation, Parks spent a year in London acting so she could better understand what it meant to be part of the stage. When she returned to the US, she moved to New York City, and began writing one-act plays and performing them in local coffeehouses and bars. Her first full-length play in
1989, Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom, won her an Obie award for Off-Broadway's award for best new play.
Since then, she has gone on to write numerous successful plays, none more so than 2001's TopDog/Underdog, which earned her the Pulitzer Prize for Drama that year, becoming the first African-American to receive the honor. She has also been a recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Award as well as named by Time Magazine as one of the "100 Innovators for the Next New Wave." Her 2007's 365 Plays/365 Days has been produced in over 700 theaters worldwide, creating one of the largest grassroots collaborations in theater history.
