A southern life

by Green, Paul

This exceptional collection provides new insight into the life and works of North Carolina writer and activist Paul Green (1894-1981), the first playwright from the South to attract national and international attention for his socially conscious dramas. A native of Harnett County, Green was a devoted teacher of philosophy and drama at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He became a leading member of the generation of writers who launched the southern literary renaissance and played a significant role in creating an authentic drama of black life, winning the Pulitzer Prize for his play In Abraham's Bosom in 1927. From the 1930s until his death in 1981, he devoted much of his energy to the outdoor historical plays he called symphonic dramas, including his longest-running work, The Lost Colony (1937), which is one of several of his plays still performed before large audiences today. Concern for human rights characterized Green's life as well as his plays, and his efforts on b