













































August Wilson Journal


 
V o l .  1    |    S p r i n g  2 0 1 9  

 

 
I S S N  2 5 7 7 - 7 4 3 2  ( o n l i n e )  D O I  1 0 . 5 1 9 5 / a w j . 2 0 1 9 . 4 4  a u g u s t w i l s o n . p i t t . e d u  

 1 

Welcome to the Inaugural Edition of the  
August Wilson Journal 

By Michael J. Downing 
Professor of English, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania 

              

[Thanks to] August himself for being August . . . for plying 
his trade as a poet and playwright so artfully as to 
heartfully touch so many thousands of people across the 
United States and around the world. 

− Michael J. Downing 

 

Abstract  
A welcome to the inaugural edition of the August Wilson Journal, written by the editor. 

Keywords 
August Wilson, August Wilson Journal, Sandra Shannon, Larry Glasco, David Anderson, Patrick Maley, Chris Bell, 

Artisia Green, Melonnie Walker, Steven Tracy, Alan Nadel, Chris Rawson, American Literature Association, 
University of Pittsburgh  

Gratitude 
 

As we prepare to launch the first edition of the August Wilson 
Journal, I can only express heartfelt gratitude to so many people who 
have helped along the way: Sandra Shannon, Larry Glasco, David 
Anderson, Patrick Maley, Chris Bell, Artisia Green, Melonnie Walker, 
Steven Tracy, Alan Nadel, and Chris Rawson, along with all of our 
excellent peer reviewers and editorial advisors.  I would also like to 
thank Constanza Romero for giving so generously of her time and of 
course August himself for being August . . . for plying his trade as a poet 
and playwright so artfully as to heartfully touch so many thousands of 
people across the United States and around the world.  Thank you, all. 

 
                   Origins 

 
With the benefit of hindsight, I now see that this journal project got its unwitting 

start in 2002 when I established augustwilson.net, which was a simple website dedicated to 
the study of all things August Wilson.  It was, as far as I know, the first and for many years 
the only online source dedicated to Mr. Wilson.  The goal was simply to spread the word by 
seeking permission and then publishing various articles on the internet. It served its 
purpose: I answered a lot of emails back in those days from people who were interested in 

Michael J. 
Downing 

http://augustwilson.pitt.edu/ojs/augustwilson/about/editorialTeam�


A U G U S T  W I L S O N  J O U R N A L  
V o l .  1    |    S p r i n g  2 0 1 9  

 

 
a u g u s t w i l s o n . p i t t . e d u   D O I  1 0 . 5 1 9 5 / a w j . 2 0 1 9 . 4 4  I S S N  2 5 7 7 - 7 4 3 2  ( o n l i n e )  

 2 

learning more and the plays, sensibilities, and politics that informed Mr. Wilson and his 
works. 

I kept the website alive for a little more than a decade but eventually wanted the 
online presence to be more dynamic so I started the August Wilson Blog in January 2012. 
That allowed me to post material more regularly by writing short pieces with links to 
original articles without having to worry about: 1) seeking permission to reproduce entire 
articles, and 2) all of the constant design and navigation adjustments associated with 
maintaining a traditional website.  The blog still exists as a searchable database of more than 
450 journalistic-style articles.  It has also connected me to dozens of Wilson supporters 
through the years, and even some contributors (CoCo Harris; Catherine Minnick), so I 
persevered, knowing that this was an important next step in the process of publishing 
Wilson material online.  In addition, working on the blog made me realize how many of 
August’s plays were being performed across the United States, annually. In fact, for the 2016-
2017 theater year, no other playwright was performed more than August Wilson.  

Then, in May of 2015, at the American Literature Association Conference in Boston, 
I officially began pursuing the idea of launching a journal dedicated to the life and work of 
August Wilson.  Two years earlier, I had created the August Wilson Author Society through 
ALA (now coordinated by J. Ken Stuckey), so I was already cultivating scholarly papers for 
presentation.  The question now was where can we publish those essays?  I began by 
speaking with some representatives of Penn State University Press, who were in the 
publishers room in Boston and currently publishing such periodicals as The Arthur Miller 
Journal, The Cormac McCarthy Journal, The Edgar Allan Poe Review, The Steinbeck Review, 
The Chaucer Review, and the Journal of Bernard Shaw Studies, to name a few.  PSU publishes 
so many journals, in fact, that as far as new projects go, they were only interested in 
publishing journals edited by Penn State faculty.  They did, however, point me in the 
direction of the University of Pittsburgh, to which, I said of course! 

Pitt was immediately interested and we began negotiating the initial proposal, 
which had to be approved by various governing bodies at UPitt in order for us to proceed.  
I’ll spare you details, but let us just say it was rigorous and tremendously time-consuming.  It 
took about a year and a half to iron out the details of the proposal and get it approved.  Then 
David Anderson, my managing editor, and I then had to travel to Pitt to design the website 
and be trained in its operation.  Designing the website involved decisions at every turn:  
Colors, fonts, banners, art, etc.  Thanks to the wonderful staff at Pitt and thanks to my 
wonderful and talented wife, Jackie, who designed the logo that appears at the top of each 
article. 

Now that we are nearing the completion of the first issue, I have a full appreciation 
of how complicated the website is and how it is actually a form of Artificial Intelligence, 
coordinating collective production efforts and creating a digital “paper trail” as things 
progress.  Like all AI, however, the downside of the journal website is it is absolutely 
merciless at times.  We had more than a few instances where contributors could not 
successfully submit their work, which was, we figured out later, due to the fact that they 
missed a particular checkbox designating themselves as authors.  Another issue is that the 
system—in order to keep things “blind”—automatically converts file names into numbers, 
which confuses the heck out of two old English professors, who prefer the 26-letter alphabet, 
rather than constantly-changing computer language. 

But we get it.  Pitt wants to make sure that all of the protocols are followed.  Open 
Access Publishing has gotten a bad name in some circles (i.e., predatory pay to play) and Pitt 
wants to make sure all protocols are followed.  It has reached the point, however, where 
David and I are ready to bring another person onto the editorial team to manage workflow 
and production so that I can focus on driving material to the site and David can focus on 
working with his team of reviewers.  We need help and if you would like to assist, send me 
an email.   

https://www.americantheatre.org/2016/09/21/the-top-20-most-produced-playwrights-of-the-2016-17-season/�


D O W N I N G :  W E L C O M E  T O  T H E  I N A U G U R A L  E D I T I O N  O F  T H E   
A U G U S T  W I L S O N  J O U R N A L  

A u g u s t  W i l s o n  J o u r n a l    |    V o l .  1    |    S p r i n g  2 0 1 9  

 

 
I S S N  2 5 7 7 - 7 4 3 2  ( o n l i n e )  D O I  1 0 . 5 1 9 5 / a w j . 2 0 1 9 . 4 4  a u g u s t w i l s o n . p i t t . e d u  

 3 

That said, everyone at Pitt has been extraordinarily kind and supportive.  I think 
they are all excited about the idea of hosting a journal dedicated to native son August 
Wilson and are entirely devoted to making that happen. 

 
Spring 2019 Edition 

 
This inaugural edition of the journal features 22 separate submissions. Immediately 

following this introduction is a foreword by Professor Sandra Shannon from Howard 
University. She comments on the field of Wilson studies and how it has grown over the 
years. She is the well-published president of the August Wilson Society which has been very 
active over the past several years promoting the legacy and literature of August Wilson. 

Managing Editor David Anderson's brief welcome essay follows.  A native 
Pittsburgher, David and I have been friends for more than 30 years and have been studying 
the life and works of August Wilson since we met in 1989. 

Larry Glasco's article about August leaving Pittsburgh is next. Professor Glasco is a 
history professor at the University of Pittsburgh and this essay is a chapter from his 
upcoming book on Wilson. He offers 139(!) sources and offers a detailed and nuanced 
perspective on the conversations and circumstances that led to August to leave Pittsburgh 
for St. Paul. 

Long-time Wilson scholar Alan Nadel follows with his essay on reading Wilson and 
his characters. Professor Nadel has published two collections of essays on August Wilson 
and has also recently released a monograph on August Wilson. 

Mark Whitaker's essay is a keynote address that stems from the 2018 August Wilson 
Consortium which took place at the August Wilson Cultural Center in April of that year. In 
his remarks, Whitaker talks about how August Wilson fits into his book Smoketown: The 
Other Black Renaissance.  Whitaker has worked as chief editor at Newsweek, Washington 
Bureau Chief for NBC News, and managing editor of CNN Worldwide. 

Constanza Romero has graciously lent her voice to this first issue and Sandra 
Shannon was kind enough to conduct the interview.  We are aiming at incorporating 
multimedia into the journal website as often as possible and are glad to say that not only do 
we have the textual version of the Romero interview, we also have an audio recording. 

Chris Bell's interview with long-time August Wilson friend Sala Udin follows. Sala 
remembers going to elementary school with August and then performing in Jitney.  

Another goal of the Wilson Journal is to talk with dramaturgs in order to bring 
them into the conversation and shed some light on their world.  We want the journal to be 
open not only to scholars and academics but also to performers, directors and the theater 
community at large.  So Dramaturgy Section editor Melonnie Walker has conducted two 
dramaturg interviews from recent productions of Two Trains Running and Radio Golf.  

Patrick Maley is Stage Review Editor for the journal and he has been a strong 
contributor, bringing four reviews, including Kelsall's review of King Hedley II, Ridley's 
review of Gem of the Ocean, Herron's review of Fences, and Bell's review of Radio Golf. With 
our stage reviews, we look to go beyond plot summaries and generalized summaries and 
seek more specific insights such as how the play may have been staged, how the material 
was treated, or other nuances related to characters or themes that emerged within any 
particular staging. 

Long-time Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Theatre Critic Chris Rawson opens the news 
section with an article on the August Wilson American Century Cycle Awards, with 
accompanying sidebar. These awards are given to theaters across the United States that have 
completed the entire 10-play American Century Cycle. Rawson has also contributed a second 
article on the activities of August Wilson House. 



A U G U S T  W I L S O N  J O U R N A L  
V o l .  1    |    S p r i n g  2 0 1 9  

 

 
a u g u s t w i l s o n . p i t t . e d u   D O I  1 0 . 5 1 9 5 / a w j . 2 0 1 9 . 4 4  I S S N  2 5 7 7 - 7 4 3 2  ( o n l i n e )  

 4 

The next article is written by recent Duquesne master's graduate (and previous 
Kutztown University graduate) Laura Quain who writes about the Duquesne Fellowship and 
recent recipient, Natasha Trethewey. 

Following Laura's article is a bibliography compiled by Thom Addington who is an 
instructor of English at Richard Bland College of William and Mary. The bibliography dates 
back to 2016 and will be a regular feature of the journal going forward as we continue to 
update it. We are particularly excited this year because we are able to include a primary work 
of August Wilson in How I Learned What I Learned. 

Finally, we have an official Note, which is also intended as a regular feature.  This 
year's note calls attention to specifics related to the fluctuating terminology connected to 
The Pittsburgh Cycle, The Century Cycle, and August Wilson's American Century Cycle.  
See Note for details. 

 
Moving Forward 

 
In terms of our evolving vision of the journal, we would like to see and cultivate 

additional, traditional scholarship, but we realize that it takes time. Now that we have 
published our first edition, we believe the level of attraction will begin to grow.  We have 
received a handful of essays that were not quite fully mature, so we have elected to put those 
into the revise and resubmit column and work with the authors to firm up the arguments 
and evidence.  Another place that we are looking to pull from is the aforementioned August 
Wilson Author Society through the American Literature Association.  Authors should note 
that I am in a position to provide feedback in order to assist in sharpening essays for 
publication.  Then, once the author and I am more or less satisfied, we toss it over the fence 
to the managing editor and the reviewers for blind peer review. 

 
Thanks to the University of Pittsburgh 

 
I started this essay with gratitude and I want to conclude with that same sentiment.  

I would like to thank all of our friends at the University of Pittsburgh for agreeing to take  
on this project, for training us on the use of the website, and for ultimately publishing  
the material: Vanessa Gabler, Electronic Publications Manager;  Kari Johnston, 
Communications Support Specialist; Lauren Collister, Director of the Office of Scholarly 
Communications & Publishing; Timothy Deliyannides, Director of Information Technology.  
It hass been a long haul with numerous challenges along the way, but it is my hope that we 
are making history with this first edition and that this project will serve as the ongoing, 
official record for August Wilson studies well into the future. 

 

Author Bio 

Dr. Michael Downing is Professor of English at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, where 
he teaches courses in August Wilson, technical writing, journalism, literature, and 
composition. 

 
 
 

 Articles in this journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 This journal is published by the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh as part of its  
D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program and is cosponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Press. 

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/�
http://www.library.pitt.edu/�
http://www.pitt.edu/�
http://www.library.pitt.edu/d-scribe-digital-collections�
http://upress.pitt.edu/�
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/�

	Welcome to the Inaugural Edition of the  August Wilson Journal
	Abstract
	Keywords

	Author Bio

