Philip C. Kolin is Professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has published more than 35 books including Understanding Adrienne Kennedy (2005), The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia (2004), and Othello:New Critical Essays (Routledge, 2001). He is general editor of the Routledge book series ShakespeareCriticism. He is also a poet who has published three books of verse.

• 1. 'Something's Going on here that Concerns Me': Johnson, Hurston, Bonner and Hansberry 2. Dialectical Dialogues: Performing Blackness in the Drama of Alice Childress 3. 'Shaking Loose': Sonia Sanchez's Militant Drama 4. American History/African Nightmares: Adrienne Kennedy and Civil Rights 5. 'Boogie Woogie Landscapes': The Dramatic/Poetic Collage of Ntozake Shange 6. The Feminist/Womanist Vision of Pearl Cleage 7. 'We Must keep on Writing': The Plays of Aishah Rahman 8. Glenda Dickerson’s Nu Shu: Combining Feminist Discourse/Predagogy/Theatre 9. 'Everybody's Talking': Anna Deavere Smith's Documentary Theater 10. Diggin the Fo'-Fathers: Suzan-Lori Parks's Histories 11. An Intimate Look at the Plays of Lynn Nottage 12. An Interview with Lynn Nottage

'The impressive array of scholars gathered in this collection, all experts in the field, read the plays with nuance and situate them deftly within their cultural and historical contexts. Scholars of contemporary theater and drama and of African American literature will find value in this engaging collection.' - Choice'This resource is invaluable to the drama/theatre teacher... This [treatment of themes] makes the collection useful to a much wider range of academics and other professionals.' - Multicultural Review'Compelling... the eminently readable essays are interesting and accessible for students and scholars of theatre and a broader readership interested in how theatre is informed by by the cultural politics of race in the USA.' - New Theatre Quarterly 'Philip C. Kolin has assembled a compelling and eclectic collection of essays that are well researched and revealing. The volume should prove a welcome addition to scholars and provide a useful introduction to the diversity of Parks’s canon for students of American theatre.' - Modern Drama

Philip C. Kolin is Professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has published more than 35 books including Understanding Adrienne Kennedy (2005), The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia (2004), and Othello:New Critical Essays (Routledge, 2001). He is general editor of the Routledge book series ShakespeareCriticism. He is also a poet who has published three books of verse.

• 1. 'Something's Going on here that Concerns Me': Johnson, Hurston, Bonner and Hansberry 2. Dialectical Dialogues: Performing Blackness in the Drama of Alice Childress 3. 'Shaking Loose': Sonia Sanchez's Militant Drama 4. American History/African Nightmares: Adrienne Kennedy and Civil Rights 5. 'Boogie Woogie Landscapes': The Dramatic/Poetic Collage of Ntozake Shange 6. The Feminist/Womanist Vision of Pearl Cleage 7. 'We Must keep on Writing': The Plays of Aishah Rahman 8. Glenda Dickerson’s Nu Shu: Combining Feminist Discourse/Predagogy/Theatre 9. 'Everybody's Talking': Anna Deavere Smith's Documentary Theater 10. Diggin the Fo'-Fathers: Suzan-Lori Parks's Histories 11. An Intimate Look at the Plays of Lynn Nottage 12. An Interview with Lynn Nottage

'The impressive array of scholars gathered in this collection, all experts in the field, read the plays with nuance and situate them deftly within their cultural and historical contexts. Scholars of contemporary theater and drama and of African American literature will find value in this engaging collection.' - Choice'This resource is invaluable to the drama/theatre teacher... This [treatment of themes] makes the collection useful to a much wider range of academics and other professionals.' - Multicultural Review'Compelling... the eminently readable essays are interesting and accessible for students and scholars of theatre and a broader readership interested in how theatre is informed by by the cultural politics of race in the USA.' - New Theatre Quarterly 'Philip C. Kolin has assembled a compelling and eclectic collection of essays that are well researched and revealing. The volume should prove a welcome addition to scholars and provide a useful introduction to the diversity of Parks’s canon for students of American theatre.' - Modern Drama

Philip C. Kolin is Professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has published more than 35 books including Understanding Adrienne Kennedy (2005), The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia (2004), and Othello:New Critical Essays (Routledge, 2001). He is general editor of the Routledge book series ShakespeareCriticism. He is also a poet who has published three books of verse.

• 1. 'Something's Going on here that Concerns Me': Johnson, Hurston, Bonner and Hansberry 2. Dialectical Dialogues: Performing Blackness in the Drama of Alice Childress 3. 'Shaking Loose': Sonia Sanchez's Militant Drama 4. American History/African Nightmares: Adrienne Kennedy and Civil Rights 5. 'Boogie Woogie Landscapes': The Dramatic/Poetic Collage of Ntozake Shange 6. The Feminist/Womanist Vision of Pearl Cleage 7. 'We Must keep on Writing': The Plays of Aishah Rahman 8. Glenda Dickerson’s Nu Shu: Combining Feminist Discourse/Predagogy/Theatre 9. 'Everybody's Talking': Anna Deavere Smith's Documentary Theater 10. Diggin the Fo'-Fathers: Suzan-Lori Parks's Histories 11. An Intimate Look at the Plays of Lynn Nottage 12. An Interview with Lynn Nottage

'The impressive array of scholars gathered in this collection, all experts in the field, read the plays with nuance and situate them deftly within their cultural and historical contexts. Scholars of contemporary theater and drama and of African American literature will find value in this engaging collection.' - Choice'This resource is invaluable to the drama/theatre teacher... This [treatment of themes] makes the collection useful to a much wider range of academics and other professionals.' - Multicultural Review'Compelling... the eminently readable essays are interesting and accessible for students and scholars of theatre and a broader readership interested in how theatre is informed by by the cultural politics of race in the USA.' - New Theatre Quarterly 'Philip C. Kolin has assembled a compelling and eclectic collection of essays that are well researched and revealing. The volume should prove a welcome addition to scholars and provide a useful introduction to the diversity of Parks’s canon for students of American theatre.' - Modern Drama