Pulitzer Prize playwright to speak at Asheville School

Press release:

Pulitzer Prize Winning Playwright to Speak at Asheville School

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (April 10, 2017) Asheville School will welcome Margaret Edson, who won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play “Wit,” to speak at the annual Founders’ Day convocation. She will speak in the Walker Art Center’s Graham Theater on Thursday, April 27 at 7:15 p.m.

Called “the Harper Lee of playwrights,” by the New York Times, Margaret Edson is a long-time public school teacher and administrator who lives and teaches in Atlanta, Georgia.

In addition to winning the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, her play, “Wit” also won the 1993 Drama League of New York Playwright Award, numerous March 1996 Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, numerous June 1998 Connecticut Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, the 1998 Berrilla Kerr Foundation Playwrights Award, and the 1999 Fellowship of Southern Writers Drama Award (pulitzer.org).

Associate Head of School Jay Bonner is no stranger to Edson’s work. He and former trustee and past parent Dr. John Lawrence teach “Wit” to students in their team-taught Honors Humanities Seminar.

“The play resonates with our students because it deals with a highly successful academic who has lived a life without human connections. As Edson herself has said, ‘Smart is not bad, but kind is good,’” said Bonner.

“At Asheville School, we want to graduate young people with good hearts—even as they also graduate with academic skills important for college and life success like critical thinking, reading, writing, and problem-solving,” he said. “Sharing her wisdom with our students and with alumni on Founders’ Day reminds us of what our founders wanted to develop in the young people they hoped would attend—and who have attended–Asheville School.”

You can read a transcript of Edson’s 1999 interview on PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer here and read the 2012 New York Times article about her, “Changing Gears but Retaining Dramatic Effect” here. Her talk is open to the public, although seating may be limited.

Asheville School is a nationally acclaimed co-ed, college preparatory boarding and day school for students in grades 9 through 12. The 289 students enrolled at Asheville School represent 20 states and 16 countries. Recent graduates have been accepted to Amherst, Columbia, Davidson, Duke, Elon, Emory, Furman, Georgetown, Harvard, NC State, Rhodes, Sewanee, UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Virginia, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, William & Mary, WashU, Wofford, and Yale among others.