August Wilson was and remains a bard of black life in America
Plays such as “Fences” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” continue to find new fans on stage and screen
When August Wilson first heard a recording of Bessie Smith singing “Nobody in Town Can Bake a Sweet Jelly Roll Like Mine”, he wrote later, “the universe stuttered and everything fell to a new place.” It was 1965, and he was a dish-washing poet of 20 with grand ambitions and a sense of injustice. In Smith’s proud, mournful voice, he heard a way to hold onto the past while moving forward; to rue fate yet embrace life. The blues, he thought, “is the best literature black Americans have”. Through the music he found what became his voice as a playwright.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Living history”
Culture May 27th 2023
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