Suzan-Lori Parks – författare

The debut novel from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks is a gutsy, funny, tragic and completely original work for fans of William Faulkner and Alice Walker.In the 1950s, in a small southern town in the US, the Beedes are the lowest of the low. Always struggling, they remain shackled by poverty and their own lack of ambition. Everyone, but sixteen-year-old Billie Beede.Billy Beede has big ideas about her life. She's had the Beede misfortune to get pregnant by an itinerant coffin salesman. And when he proves to have a wife and seven kids in another town, she determines to try her luck elsewhere. The answer seems to be in the hem of her mother's dress, her mother who died ten years ago. The rumour is that Willa Mae – a Billie Holiday look-alike – was the only Beede who made good, and was buried with a pearl necklace and a diamond ring sewn into the hem of her dress.Billie – and all her relatives – aim to get their hands on this treasure and make something of themselves. What follows is a mad road trip that evokes shades of Faulkner – in its potent earthiness – but also has the approachability and warmth of novels like The Colour Purple. This is a fantastic debut novel from an accomplished and well-loved American playwright.

Pulitzer Prize & Tony Award winner Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog) delivers the stunning first installment of a new American Odyssey set over the course of the Civil War.Offered his freedom if he joins his master in the ranks of the Confederacy Hero a slave must choose whether to leave the woman and people he loves for what may be yet another empty promise. As his decision brings him face-to-face with a nation at war with itself the loved ones Hero left behind debate whether to

Long-time friends and lovers Leo, Misha, Ralph and Dawn are educated, progressive, cosmopolitan and woke. But when a racially motivated incident with the cops leaves Leo shaken, he decides extreme measures must be taken for self-preservation.

Fucking A is an otherworldly tale involving a noble mother her wayward son and others. Hester Smith the revered and reviled local abortionist hatches a plan to buy her jailed son's freedom-and nothing will deter Hester from her quest. In this violent and wild-eyed blend of story and song which harkens to Brechtian and Jacobean structure Hester's branded letter A becomes a provocative emblem of vengeance violence and sacrifice."Critics' Pick! Timeless and enduringly relevant. As harrowing as it is witty!" - Ben Brantley The New York Times"Four stars! Like Hester's bloodily branded A the play leaves an indelible mark." - Raven Snook Time Out New York"A fiery raw-throated shout in the face of hypocrisy privilege and injustice." - Sara Holdren New York Magazine"An expressionistic and politically charged exploration of class family and violence studded with jarring bursts of humor and song." - Raven Snook Time Out New York

The second volume in this series brings together some of the best new writing from contemporary American playwrights. Each play is introduced by critically acclaimed writers themselves.THE EDGE OF OUR BODIES by Adam Rapp, Introduced by AM Homes, follows a teenage girl Bernadette who has to grow up quickly when she discovers she is pregnant. THE COWARD by Nick Jones, introduced by Marsha Norman, is an absurdist  comedy set in 18th century England. Lucidus initiates a pistol duel, but when he finds he'll have to fight the son of the man he challenged, he doesn't want to go through with it. His plot to avoid the duel creates more trouble. THE BOOK OF GRACE by Suzan-Lori Parks, introduced by Oskar Eustis, portrays a dysfunctional American family, where anger and mistrust are symptoms of historical abuse. WHAT ONCE WE FELT by Ann Marie Healy, introduced by Paula Vogel, is set in a mysterious parallel universe, where Macy is the last ever author to be published in print, the system has an underclass named the Tradepack, and a woman can only have a baby if she possesses the right kind of 'scan card'.

Thirty-somethings Leo, Misha, Ralph and Dawn have been inseparable since college. Making their way together in the big city, they are liberal, open-minded and socially aware.As best friends and lovers, confident in their 'woke-ness', their connection with each other is stronger than anything else – until Leo is assaulted by the police in a racially motivated incident. Shaken to the core, he brings to the group an extreme proposition...Suzan-Lori Parks' play White Noise takes an unflinching look at race in the twenty-first century from both a black and white perspective. It was first performed at The Public Theater, New York, in March 2019, directed by Oskar Eustis, and had its European premiere at the Bridge Theatre, London, in October 2021, directed by Polly Findlay.

An epic dramatic trilogy set during the American Civil War, by one of America's leading playwrights.America, 1862, during the Civil War. Hero, a slave, is promised his freedom if he joins his master in the ranks of the Confederacy against the Union. In a nation at war with itself, he must fight against those striving to abolish slavery.The family he leaves behind debates whether to escape or await his return, and they fear that, for Hero, freedom is an empty promise that may come at a great cost.Suzan-Lori Parks' Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) received its UK premiere in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2016, directed by Jo Bonney. The trilogy premiered at The Public Theater, New York, in 2014, was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and won the Edward M Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History.