Author

I write for myself, and my goal is bringing that world and that experience of black Americans to life on the stage and giving it a space there.

From August Wilson

A novelist writes a novel, and people read it. But reading is a solitary act. While it may elicit a varied and personal response, the communal nature of the audience is like having five hundred people read your novel and respond to it at the same time. I find that thrilling.

From August Wilson

I dropped out of school when I was 15 years old. I dropped out because I guess I wasn't getting anything out of my investment in the school.

From August Wilson

My plays are ultimately about love, honor, duty, betrayal.

From August Wilson

I don't look at our society today too much. My focus is still in the past, and part of the reason is because what I do - the wellspring of art, or what I do - l get from the blues. So I listen to the music of a particular period that I'm working on, and I think inside the music is clues to what is happening with the people.

From August Wilson

The exact day I became a poet was April 1, 1965, the day I bought my first typewriter.

From August Wilson

I'm a De Niro fan. I went eleven years without seeing a movie; the last one before that, February 1980, was De Niro and Scorsese in 'Raging Bull,' and when I went back, it was 'Cape Fear,' with De Niro and Scorsese. I picked up right where I left off at.

From August Wilson

I don't write particularly to effect social change. I believe writing can do that, but that's not why I write.

From August Wilson

The blues are important primarily because they contain the cultural expression and the cultural response to blacks in America and to the situation that they find themselves in. And contained in the blues is a philosophical system at work. And as part of the oral tradition, this is a way of passing along information.

From August Wilson

For me, the original play becomes an historical document: This is where I was when I wrote it, and I have to move on now to something else.

From August Wilson

August Wilson

Notable Quotes

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