2018 continues to be a banner year for Suzan-Lori Parks. News broke this summer that the playwright and screenwriter would pen a Billie Holiday biopic and now The New York Times has confirmed Parks will receive this year’s Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award. She will accept the prize — a $200,000 cash award from the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust that’s “among the richest in theater” — December 3.
Also known as the Mimi, the Distinguished Playwright Award is presented every other year to “an American playwright whose body of work has made significant contributions to the American theater.” Past recipients include Lynn Nottage (“Sweat”) and Sarah Ruhl (“In The Next Room, or the vibrator play”).
Parks won a Pulitzer for her play “Topdog/Underdog,” and made history as the first black woman to ever receive the prize. The MacArthur “Genius” Award, the Gish Prize for Excellence in the Arts, and the Edward M. Kennedy Prize are among her other many honors. She’s written plays and musicals such as “365 Days/365 Plays,” “Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3),” “Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Musical,” and “In the Blood.” Parks also wrote the Tony-winning 2012 Broadway adaptation of “Porgy and Bess” with Diedre Murray.
On the screen front, Parks wrote the screenplays for the Spike Lee-directed “Girl 6” and TV movie “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” She also penned the upcoming film adaptation of Richard Wright’s “Native Son.” The 1930s South Side Chicago-set story follows a poor young black man working as a chauffeur for his white landlord’s family. Currently in post-production, “Native Son” is expected to open next year.
