A Song for August: The Inspiring Life of Playwright August Wilson [Hardcover]

An ode to one of America's foremost Black playwrights, August Wilson, and a meditation on culture, erasure, and what ultimately drives an artist's desire to create.

August Wilson grew up open to the creative inspiration in everything he encountered: in library books, in music, in artworks, in the lively conversations overheard in the restaurants and barbershops lining the Pittsburgh neighborhood of his childhood. August paid attention. He listened. And when he got older, he got ideas about what to do with everything he’d seen and heard — ideas that would make him one of the greatest playwrights in American history.Sally Denmeadis an opera singer, director, and actor who moved from Brooklyn to Pittsburgh, where she fell in love with the plays of August Wilson. This is her first book.

Author Residency:Pittsburgh, PA

Alleanna Harrisis a children's book illustrator and artist. As a kid, she would doodle on notebooks in school and on programs in church. She graduated from the University of the Arts with a BFA in animation with honors. Harris lives in New Jersey.

llustrator Residency:New Jersey

Harriss emotionally resonant illustrations (sketches composed with digital ink pens and finished using digital gouache brushes) support Denmeads lyrical narrative and inspirational tone.  Horn Book

Finally, the brilliant chronicler of Black life in America, author of the Century Cycle, is the focus of a book accessible to young readers."  Imaginary Elevators

"A meditation on culture, erasure, and what ultimately drives an artist's desire to create, A Song for August is especially and unreservedly recommended for picture book biography collections."  Midwest Book Review

Denmeads account animates the story of young Wilson...Harriss serene hues skillfully depict Wilsons desire for creativity through visions of wonder and a typewriterlƒh