Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks Receives 22nd Annual Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize

On Monday, November 30, playwright, novelist and songwriter Suzan-Lori Parks was awarded the 22nd annual Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prizeat The Public Theater in New York City. The private ceremony included remarks by Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater, and playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner, as well as a dramatic reading of an excerpt from Parks's play Topdog/Underdog featuring actors Brandon J. Dirden and Jason Dirden, and a musical performance by Parks and bandmate Steven Bargonetti.

Following the ceremony, leaders of the performing arts and literary communities enjoyed a cocktail reception at The Library at The Public, including the 22nd Annual Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Selection Committee members Ella Baff (Committee Chair), newly appointed Senior Program Officer for the Arts and Cultural Heritage Program for The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Russell Granet, Executive Director of Lincoln Center Education; Kevin Moriarty, Artistic Director of the Dallas Theater Center; Mikki Shepard, Executive Director of the Apollo Theater; and writer A.M. Homes.

Established in 1994 through the will of Lillian Gish, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize is given annually to an individual who has "made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life." Past recipients, from 1994 through 2014, are Frank Gehry, Ingmar Bergman, Robert Wilson, Bob Dylan, Isabel Allende, Arthur Miller, Merce Cunningham, Jennifer Tipton, Lloyd Richards, Bill T. Jones, Ornette Coleman, Peter Sellars, Shirin Neshat, Laurie Anderson, Robert Redford, Pete Seeger, Chinua Achebe, Trisha Brown, Anna Deavere Smith, Spike Lee and Maya Lin. Prize recipients are nominated by the arts community and chosen by a distinguished committee of arts leaders for their groundbreaking work in their chosen fields. The Gish Prize selection committee, a group that changes every year, has included filmmaker Mira Nair, sculptor Martin Puryear, President Emerita of The Museum of Modern Art Agnes Gund, President of the Ford Foundation Darren Walker, and playwright, librettist and screenwriter David Henry Hwang. For further information, visit www.gishprize.com.