- On April 8, 2002, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Topdog/Underdog.
- Studied with iconic playwright James Baldwin while at Mount Holyoke.
- Husband is a blues musician.
- She majored in English and German at Massachusetts' Mount Holyoke College, graduating in 1985.
- Studied acting in London.
- She directs the theatre program at the California Institute of the Arts.
- Influenced by the plays of Ntozake Shange and Adrienne Kennedy and their non-traditional writing styles.
- As a joke, she told a friend that she intended to write a play based on "The Scarlet Letter" called "F***ing A." She hated the finished product, so she scrapped everything except the title and the lead character's name, Hester. She rewrote the play, this time about an abortionist in a dystopic colony.
- Spent part of childhood in Germany where she attended German schools instead of the American schools intended for the families of Army personnel.
- Nominated for the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play "In the Blood" and won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play "Topdog/Underdog".
- Her father is an Army Colonel.
- Wrote a novel entitled, "Getting Mother's Body".
- Was nominated for Broadway's 2002 Tony Award as author of Best Play nominee "Topdog/Underdog."
- She was awarded the 2004 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Playwright (Equity) for "Topdog/Underdog" presented in association with the Seattle Repertory Theatre production at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
- Her plays, "Father Comes Home from The Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)," at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois were nominated for a 2018 Joseph Jefferson Equity Award for Large Play Production and Play Ensemble.
- The cast of her play, "In The Blood" in a Red Tape Theatre Company production at the Ready Theatre in Chicago, Illinois were nominated for a 2019 Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Ensemble.
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