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Name
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Sandra G. Shannon
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Bio
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Sandra G. Shannon, PhD, is professor emerita of African American literature in the Department of English at Howard University. She is widely acknowledged as a major scholar in the field of African American drama and the leading authority on playwright August Wilson. She is the author of the books The Dramatic Vision of August Wilson and August Wilson’s Fences: A Reference Guide, has written numerous essays and chapters on Wilson. She has also served as editor of the College Language Association Journal (CLAJ) and as editor of several essay collections, including Modern American Drama: Playwriting in the 1980s and August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle: Critical Perspectives on the Plays. She is currently Dean of the College of Fellows of American Theater, President of the August Wilson Society, Scholar-in-Residence at Pittsburgh, PA’s August Wilson African American Cultural Center, and a Scholar Coach for Howard University’s 2023 Junior Faculty Writing and Creative Works Summer Academy.
In fall 2020, Dr. Shannon successfully applied for and received a generous grant on behalf of the August Wilson Society from the Billie Holiday Theatre sponsored Black Seed initiative to support a two-year project titled Centering and Celebrating Wilsonian Warriors. This project, now based at the University of Pittsburgh, will examine the roles played by an August Wilson-centered community of actors, designers, musicians, and directors in securing the playwright’s current national and international reputation as one of the greatest playwrights of our time.
A sample of her scholarship can be found at https://works.bepress.com/sandra-shannon/
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Affiliation
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Howard University
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Position
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Professor Emerita of African American literature
