Adrienne Kennedy (born September 13, 1931) is an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

.Peterson, Jane T., and Suzanne Bennett. "Adrienne Kennedy". ''Women Playwrights of Diversity''. Westport, CT:

Greenwood Press Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG) was an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which was part of ABC-Clio. Since 2021, ABC-Clio and its suite of imprints, including GPG, are collectively imprints of B ...

, 1997. 201–205. She is best known for '' Funnyhouse of a Negro'', which premiered in 1964 and won an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...

. "Biographical sketch".
Adrienne Kennedy: An Inventory of Her Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
'.

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. She won a lifetime Obie as well. In 2018 she was inducted into the

Theater Hall of Fame The American Theater Hall of Fame was founded in 1972 in New York City. The first head of its executive committee was Earl Blackwell. In an announcement in 1972, he said that the new ''Theater Hall of Fame'' would be located in the Uris Theatre, ...

. In 2022, Kennedy received the Gold Medal for Drama from the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

; given every six years, it has been awarded to only 16 people, including

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

. Kennedy has been contributing to American theater since the early 1960s, influencing generations of playwrights with her haunting, fragmentary lyrical dramas. Exploring the violence racism brings to people's lives, Kennedy's plays express poetic alienation, transcending the particulars of character and plot through ritualistic repetition and radical structural experimentation. Much of her work explores issues of race, kinship, and violence in American society, and many of her plays are "autobiographically inspired."Sollors, Werner. "Introduction", ''The Adrienne Kennedy Reader'', Minneapolis:

University of Minnesota Press The University of Minnesota Press is a university press that is part of the University of Minnesota. It had annual revenues of just over $8 million in fiscal year 2018. Founded in 1925, the University of Minnesota Press is best known for its book ...

, 2001, p. vii.
"An introduction to the playwright's work"
A.R.T.) Kennedy is noted for the use of

surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

in her plays, which are often plotless and symbolic, drawing on mythical, historical, and imaginary figures to depict and explore the

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

experience.Wilkerson, Margaret B. "Adrienne Kennedy", in Thadious M. Davis and Trudier Harris (eds), ''Afro-American Writers after 1955: Dramatists and Prose Writers''.

Dictionary of Literary Biography The ''Dictionary of Biography in literature, Literary Biography'' is a specialist biographical dictionary dedicated to literature. Published by Gale (Cengage), Gale, the 375-volume setRogers, 106. covers a wide variety of literary topics, periods ...

vol. 38. Detroit:

Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .

, 1985, p. 163. In 1969, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' critic

Clive Barnes Clive Alexander Barnes (13 May 1927 – 19 November 2008) was an English writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977, he was the dance and theater critic for ''The New York Times'', and, from 1978 until his death, the ''New York Post''. Barnes had sign ...

wrote: "While almost every black playwright in the country is fundamentally concerned with realism— LeRoi Jones and

Ed Bullins Edward Artie Bullins (July 2, 1935November 13, 2021), sometimes publishing as Kingsley B. Bass Jr, was an American playwright. He won awards including the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and several Obie Awards. Bullins was associated wit ...

at times have something different going but even their symbolism is straightforward stuff—Miss Kennedy is weaving some kind of dramatic fabric of poetry." In 1995, critic

Michael Feingold Michael E. Feingold (May 5, 1945 – November 21, 2022) was an American critic, translator, lyricist, playwright and dramaturg. He was the lead theater critic of ''The Village Voice'' from 1982 to 2013, for which he was twice named a Pulitzer Pri ...

of the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'' wrote that, "with

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

gone, Adrienne Kennedy is probably the boldest artist now writing for the theater." Kennedy has also written in other genres, including poetry and essays.

Life and career

Adrienne Kennedy was born Adrienne Lita Hawkins on September 13, 1931, in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. Her mother, Etta Hawkins, was a teacher, and her father, Cornell Wallace Hawkins, was a social worker. She spent most of her childhood in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, attending Cleveland public schools.Andrews, William L., et al
"Adrienne Kennedy"
in William L. Andrews, Frances Smith Foster and Trudier Harris (eds), ''The Oxford Companion to African American Literature'', New York:

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, 1997. 418–19. She grew up in an integrated neighborhood and did not experience much racism until attending college at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. As a child, she spent most of her time reading books like ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...

'' and ''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in ''The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is seen as a classic of English c ...

'' instead of playing games with other children. She admired actors like

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

and began to focus on theater during her teenage years. ''

The Glass Menagerie ''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his histrionic mo ...

'' was among the first plays she saw produced, inspiring her to explore her passion for

playwriting A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwright" ...

. Her interest in playwriting continued when she started at Ohio State in 1949. She graduated from Ohio State in 1953 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in education and continued her studies at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1954–56. She married Joseph Kennedy on May 15, 1953, a month after graduating from Ohio State, and the couple had two children, Joseph Jr. and Adam P. Kennedy. They divorced in 1966. Her first play to be produced was '' Funnyhouse of a Negro'', a one-act play she wrote in 1960, the year she visited

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

for a few months with her husband on his grant from the African Research Foundation. The play draws on Kennedy's African and European heritage as she explores a "black woman's psyche, riven by personal and inherited psychosis, at the root of which is the ambiguously double failure of both rapacious white society and its burdened yet also distorted victims." ''A Rat's Mass'' was produced at

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (sometimes abbreviated as La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1961 by African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer Ellen Stewart. Located in the East Village neighborho ...

in Manhattan's East Village twice in 1969 and once in 1971. In 1976, La MaMa's Annex performed the show with music by

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in comple ...

. ''Sun: A Poem for Malcolm X Inspired By His Death'' and ''A Beast Story'' were both produced at La MaMa in 1974. Kennedy was a founding member of the Women's Theatre Council in 1971, a member of the board of directors of

PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

in 1976–77, and an

International Theatre Institute The International Theatre Institute ITI is the world’s largest performing arts organisation, founded in 1948 by theatre and dance experts and UNESCO. It has hosted various events through its history, including the Theatre of Nations, an intern ...

representative in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary, in 1978. Kennedy has taught or lectured at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

(1972–74),

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

(1977),

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

(1979–1980),

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

(1986),

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(1991),

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, and

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

. Her memoir ''People Who Led to My Plays'', first published in 1987, was reissued in 2016. As of 2018, Kennedy has written thirteen published and five unpublished plays, several autobiographies, a novella, and a short story. Kennedy used the alias Adrienne Cornell for the short story "Because of the King of France", published in '' Black Orpheus: A Journal of African and Afro-American Literature'' in 1963. Much of Kennedy's work is based on her lived experience. In 2022, Kennedy made her Broadway debut with the opening of her 1992 play '' Ohio State Murders'' at the James Earl Jones Theatre on December 8, starring

Audra McDonald Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American singer and actress. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four acti ...

, and directed by

Kenny Leon Kenny Leon is an American director and actor. He is notable for his extensive work on Broadway and television as well as in regional theater. He has received a Tony Award and a Drama League Award as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy ...

. with its last performance taking place on January 15, 2023. Speaking in an interview with '' Time Out'' magazine about what she hopes audiences will take away from seeing the play, Kennedy stated: "I want them to realize that they're listening to a very articulate, thoughtful American Black woman and, perhaps, they should pay attention to what she's saying." Despite its appraisal, its showtime was closed early due to its lack of commercial success and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had affected the revival of commercial theater in New York since then. The production received positive reviews and McDonald received a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for her role.

''The Alexander Plays'' (1992)

Suzanne Alexander is a recurring character in several of Kennedy's plays. ''She Talks to Beethoven'', ''Ohio State Murders'', ''The Film Club'', and ''The Dramatic Circle'' are collectively known as the Alexander Plays, and were published together under that title in 1992. A letter written from Suzanne Alexander's perspective, "Letter to My Students on My Sixty-First Birthday by Suzanne Alexander", was also published in 1992. The Alexander Plays are less overtly surreal than many of Kennedy's earlier works, but still avoid linear narrative. In the foreword to the printed collection of plays, Alisa Solomon, professor in the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, wrote that "the action of these plays is made up not of the events of Suzanne's life but of the process of turning memory into meaning."Solomon, Alisa. "Foreword", ''The Alexander Plays''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1992, p. xvi. .

Awards and honors

Kennedy won several awards for her plays, including a Stanley Drama Award (1963) from the New York City Writers Conference at

Wagner College Wagner College is a private university in Staten Island, New York. It was established in 1883 and, as of the 2023–2024 academic year, it enrolled approximately 1,932 students, including 1,592 undergraduates and 340 graduates. Its theatre prog ...

, two ''

s. Her Obie Awards were for "Distinguished Play" in 1964 for ''Funnyhouse of a Negro'' and "Best New American Play" in 1996 for ''June and Jean in Concert'' and ''Sleep Deprivation Chamber''. She was also honored at the 2008 Obie Awards with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Kennedy was granted a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

for Creative Writing in 1967,

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

grants in 1967 and again in 1970, a fellowship from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

in 1972, the Creative Artists Public Service grant in 1974, the 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award is an American literary award dedicated to honoring written works that make important contributions to the understanding of racism and the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture. Established in 1935 by Clev ...

, and the Pierre Lecomte du Noüy Award.Wilkerson, "Adrienne Kennedy", in Davis and Harris (eds), ''Afro-American Writers after 1955: Dramatists and Prose Writers''. Dictionary of Literary Biography vol 38. 1985, p. 168.Ohio State honors six at spring 2003 commencement"
Columbus, OH: Ohio State University, News and Information, June 5, 2003. Kennedy received the Third Annual Manhattan Borough President's Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1988. In 1990, Kennedy received the

American Book Award The American Book Awards are an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "t ...

. In 1994, Kennedy won the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Writers' Award and an

award in Literature. In July 1995, Kennedy was named playwright in residence for the September 1995–May 1996 season with the Signature Theater Company in New York City. In 2003, Kennedy was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Literature by her undergraduate

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

, Ohio State University. In 2006, Kennedy received the

PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award The PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award, commonly referred to as the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award, is awarded by the PEN America (formerly PEN American Center). It annually recognizes two American playwrights. A medal is given ...

as a Master American Dramatist. In November 2020, the Round House Theatre in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

, in association with the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, N.J., launched ''The Work of Adrienne Kennedy: Inspiration and Influence'', a digital festival of filmed readings of her plays, which attracted much acclaim. In 2021, the

Dramatists Guild of America The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market. It was born in 1921 out of the Authors Guild, known then as Authors League of America, formed in 1912. M ...

named Kennedy as recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented "in recognition of distinguished lifetime achievement in theatrical writing". The Dramatists Guild's president, Amanda Green, said in a statement: "Adrienne Kennedy has used her immense storytelling skill with beautifully brutal imagery to share her theatrical dreamscapes with the world....From 1964's ''Funnyhouse of a Negro'' to 2018's ''He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box'', Adrienne has inspired countless young writers by remaining true to herself and her voice, knowing that what she had to say would resonate." In 2022, Kennedy was awarded the Gold Medal for Drama from the

. In 2023, Kennedy was honored with a Special Citation from the New York Drama Critics Circle. Her ''Collected Plays & Other Writings'' were published in the prestigious

Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published more than 300 volumes by authors ...

series, on the day before her ninety-second birthday.

Works

Plays

* '' Funnyhouse of a Negro'', 1964 * '' The Owl Answers'', 1965 * '' A Rat's Mass'', 1967 * ''The Lennon Play: In His Own Write'' (adapted from

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

's ''

In His Own Write ''In His Own Write'' is a 1964 Literary nonsense, nonsense book by the English musician John Lennon. Lennon's first book, it consists of poems and short stories ranging from eight lines to three pages, as well as illustrations. After Lennon ...

'' and ''

A Spaniard in the Works ''A Spaniard in the Works'' is a nonsense book by English musician John Lennon, first published on 24 June 1965. The book consists of nonsensical stories and drawings similar to the style of his previous book, 1964's ''In His Own Write''. The na ...

'' with Victor Spinetti), 1967 * ''A Beast's Story'', 1969 (produced with ''The Owl Answers'' as ''Cities in Bezique'') * ''Boats'', 1969 * ''Sun: A Play for Malcolm X Inspired by His Murder'' (monologue), 1968 * ''A Lesson in Dead Language'', 1968 * ''

Electra Electra, also spelt Elektra (; ; ), is one of the most popular Greek mythology, mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, ''Electra (Sophocles play), Electra'' by Sophocles and ''Ele ...

'' and ''

Orestes In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; ) was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the brother of Electra and Iphigenia. He was also known by the patronymic Agamemnonides (), meaning "son of Agamemnon." He is the subject of several ...

'' (adapted from

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

' plays), 1980 * ''An Evening with Dead Essex'' (one-act documentary drama), 1973 * '' A Movie Star Has To Star in Black and White'', 1976 * ''A Lancashire Lad'' (children's musical), 1980 * '' Black Children's Day'' (children's play), 1980 * ''Diary of Lights'' ("A Musical Without Songs"), 1987 * ''She Talks to Beethoven'' (one-act play, later collected as part of ''The Alexander Plays''), 1989 * '' The Ohio State Murders'' (one-act play, later collected as part of ''The Alexander Plays''), 1992 * ''The Film Club'' (monologue by Suzanne Alexander), 1992 * ''The Dramatic Circle'' (

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

based on ''The Film Club''; published 1994 in ''Moon Marked and Touched By Sun: Plays by African-American Women'', edited by Sydné Mahone), 1992 * ''Motherhood 2000'' (single scene short play), 1994 * ''June and Jean in Concert'' (play version of Kennedy's book ''People Who Led to My Plays''), 1995 * ''Sleep Deprivation Chamber'' (with son Adam P. Kennedy), 1996 * ''Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles?'' (with Adam P. Kennedy), 2008 * ''He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box'', 2018

Other works

* "Because of the King of France" (short story), 1960. Published in ''

Black Orpheus ''Black Orpheus'' ( Portuguese: ''Orfeu Negro'' ) is a 1959 romantic tragedy film directed by French filmmaker Marcel Camus and starring Marpessa Dawn and Breno Mello. It is based on the play '' Orfeu da Conceição'' by Vinicius de Moraes, ...

'' in 1963 * ''People Who Led to My Plays'' (memoir), 1987. Reissued 2016. * ''Deadly Triplets'' (novella), 1990 * "Letter to My Students on My Sixty-First Birthday by Suzanne Alexander" (essay), 1992 * "Secret Paragraphs about My Brother" (essay), 1996 * "A Letter to Flowers" (essay), 1998 * "Sisters Etta and Ella (excerpt from a narrative)", 1999 * "Grendel Grendel's Mother" (essay), 1999 * "Forget" (poem), 2016; in '' New Daughters of Africa'' (ed.

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's then youngest publisher as well as the first black female book p ...

), 2019

Collected editions

* ''The Alexander Plays'', 1992 * ''Collected Plays & Other Writings'' (Marc Robinson, ed.), 2023

References

External links

Adrienne Kennedy Papers
an
Lois More Overbeck Collection of Adrienne Kennedy
at the

Kennedy's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections

, doollee.com (subscription required)
Archived profile of Adrienne Kennedy
* Ryan Spahn
"Spawned From Deep Experience: Corresponding With Adrienne Kennedy
''Juilliard Journal'', February 2013 * Alexis Soloski

''The New York Times'', January 10, 2018 *

Hilton Als Hilton Als (born 1960) is an American writer and theater critic. He is a teaching professor at the University of California, Berkeley, an associate professor of writing at Columbia University and a staff writer and theater critic for ''The New Yo ...

"Adrienne Kennedy’s Startling Body of Work"
''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', February 12 & 19, 2018. * Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
"Unraveling the Landscape: A Conversation With Adrienne Kennedy"
''American Theatre'', September 2019.
"The Lasting Impact of Adrienne Kennedy"
Ohio State University, March 15, 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Adrienne 1931 births Postmodern theatre 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American women writers African-American dramatists and playwrights African-American memoirists African-American women memoirists American women memoirists African-American poets American Book Award winners American women academics American women dramatists and playwrights American women essayists Brown University faculty Harvard University faculty Living people New York University faculty Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Princeton University faculty Stanford University faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty University of California, Davis faculty Writers from Pittsburgh Yale University faculty