Gem of the Ocean: August Wilson in the Black Diaspora

The National Black Theatre Festival (NBTF) has become a fixture of the Winston-Salem, North Carolina community since its inception in 1989. At the 2007 NBTF International Colloquium presenters including Wole Soyinka, Kwame Dawes, Ed Bullins and over a dozen other scholars and writers shared works on the impact of August Wilson, on his plays, and on the state of African and African American theatre. Conference coordinator, Olasope O. Oyelaran, has gathered these essays in this volume, Gem of the Ocean: August Wilson in the Black Diaspora, which pays tribute to both August Wilson and NBTF founder Larry Leon Hamlin. With this collection, Oyelaran adds to the already expanding canon of writing that celebrates Wilson's contributions to the world stage.


About the Author
Olasope Oyediji Oyelaran Gem of the Ocean Olasope ("Sope´") Oyediji Oyelaran retired in August 2007 from Western Michigan University where he served in the dual capacity of visiting professor in the College of Arts and Sciences and Director of International Studies in the Diether H. Haenicke Institute for Global Education. He was associate professor in the Department of English & Foreign Languages and the founding Director of International Programs at Winston-Salem State University. While at WSSU, he made his mark in teaching, research and service both to the university and the community. In 1996, Dr. Oyelaran was honored as Curator of the African American Arts and Culture, in recognition of his contribution as initiator and coordinator of the International Colloquium educational component of the National Black Theatre Festival (NBTF), a biennial multidimensional, multinational theatre arts event, unique in the country. He continues to serve the NBTF in that role. Indeed, the 2007 NBTF International Colloquium was a symposium in honor of August Wilson, the illustrious multiple Pulitzer winning American playwright, the 1997 speaker at the Colloquium, who had died in 2005.