Jackie Sibblies Drury is an American playwright. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called Drury's 2012 play '' We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915'' "her breakout work"''.'' Her subsequent works include '' Social Creatures'' (2013) and '' Fairview'' (2018); for the latter, Drury received the 2019

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

Early life and education

Jackie Sibblies Drury was raised by her Jamaican immigrant mother and grandmother in

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, known by its nickname as "The Queen City."

. Drury's mother enrolled her at a private school in New Jersey where she witnessed the persistence of "

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of humans ...

even in a harmonious community." Drury attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, where she majored in literature.'''' She received her MFA in playwriting from Brown University in 2010.

Works

Full-length plays

*'' We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884–1915'' (2012) *'' Social Creatures'' (2013) *''Really'' (2016) *'' Fairview'' (2018) *''Marys Seacole'' (2019)

Awards and honors

She was a winner of the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize for Drama in 2015. She was awarded the 2019

Susan Smith Blackburn Prize The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize established in 1978, is the largest and oldest playwriting prize for women+ writing for English-speaking theatre. Named for Susan Smith Blackburn (1935–1977), alumna of Smith College, who died of breast cancer. W ...

for her play '' Fairview''. The prize has a cash award of $25,000. ''Fairview'' was presented Off-Broadway in 2018 by

Berkeley Repertory Theatre Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley. History The company was founded in 1968, as the East Bay's first resident p ...

and

Soho Rep The Soho Repertory Theatre, known as Soho Rep,The official website'now use "Soho", with a lowercase h, as do most articles from th''New York Times''/ref> is an American Off-Broadway theater company based in New York City which is notable for prod ...

. ''Fairview'' was also awarded the

2019 Pulitzer Prize The 2019 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded by the Pulitzer Prize Board for work during the 2018 calendar year. Prize winners and nominated finalists were announced by administrator Dana Canedy at 3:00 p.m. EST on April 15, 2019. ''The Washingto ...

for

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

for this "hard-hitting drama that examines race in a highly conceptual, layered structure, ultimately bringing audiences into the actors’ community to face deep-seated prejudices." She received the 2019 Steinberg Playwright Award for '' Fairview'', which includes a $50,000 cash prize. Drury received PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theatre Award in 2022.

References

External links

Jackie Sibblies Drury Internet Off-Broadway databaseAO International Agency
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drury, Jackie Sibblies African-American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights Living people American women dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American women writers Brown University alumni Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners Writers from Plainfield, New Jersey Year of birth missing (living people) African-American women writers 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American writers