Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks to Receive 22nd Annual Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize

The Gish Prize Trust announced today that playwright, novelist, and songwriter Suzan-Lori Parks (Father Comes Home From the Wars) has been selected to receive the 22nd Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize. The award ceremony will take place on November 30 at the Public Theater.

The private ceremony, attended by leaders of the performing arts and literary communities, will include remarks by Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public Theater, and playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner. The event will also feature a performance of an excerpt from Parks’s play Topdog/Underdog featuring actors Brandon J. Dirden and Jason Dirden, as well as a musical performance by Parks' and bandmate Steven Bargonetti. Parks has served since 2008 as the Public's first Master Writer Chair.

The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize is given annually to recognize highly accomplished artists from all disciplines who have pushed the boundaries of their art forms, contributed to social change, and paved the way for the next generation. Established in 1994 through the will of stage and screen actress Lillian Gish, the prize bears one of the largest cash awards given to artists in the United States, currently valued at approximately $300,000.

"To be a recipient of the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize is a great honor," said Parks in a statement. "Past winners — I’ve been looking up to them and following in their footsteps for years. And now I’m invited to join them? It’s brilliantly trippy. And it’s humbling too, getting invited into this family of artists.

The first African-American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Drama, Suzan-Lori Parks is best known for dramas including Topdog/Underdog (awarded the Pulitzer in 2002) and Father Comes Home From the Wars.