Lorraine Hansberry was born in 1930 in Southside, Chicago. A Raisin in the Sun was her first play and opened in March 1959, making history by being the first play written by a female Black author to be staged on Broadway and winning the New York Critics' Circle Award. Her career was cut tragically short by her death in 1965, aged 34.Isaiah Matthew Wooden is Assistant Professor at Swarthmore College, US, and a director, dramaturg, and critic. His research and teaching focuses on 20th and 21st century African-American art, drama and performance. Wooden is the author of Reclaiming Time: Race, Temporality, and Black Expressive Culture (2025) and co-editor of August Wilson in Context (2025) and Tarell Alvin McCraney: Theater, Performance and Collaboration (2020).