Lanford Wilson

Before Lanford Wilson became a Pulitzer Prizewinning playwright, with such celebrated productions as The Hot l Baltimore, Fifth of July, Talleys Folly, and Burn This, he wrote dozens of short stories and poems, many of which take place in the 1950s, small-town Missouri where he grew up. This selection of Wilsons early work, written between 1955 and 1967 when he was between the ages of 18 and 30, provides a rare look at a young writer developing his style. The stories explore many of the themes Wilson later took up in the theater, such as sexual identity and the rupture of societies and families. These never-before-published workspart of the manuscript collection donated by Wilson to the University of Missourished light on the roots of some of Americas best-loved plays and are accomplished and evocative works in their own right.