Sally Denmead on A Song for August: The Inspiring Life of Playwright August Wilson

In this post, we feature debut author Sally Denmead. You can hear her speak about her new picture-book biography, A Song for August: The Inspiring Life of Playwright August Wilson, illustrated by Alleanna Harris. You can also try her “invitation to imagine” activity and find other resources to explore. Thanks for joining us, and let us know what you think in the comments below!

Sally Denmead and the cover of A Song for August.

A Song for August: The Inspiring Life of Playwright August Wilson

Written by Sally Denmead and illustrated by Alleanna Harris
Published by Levine Querido
Release date: August 6, 2024

August Wilson grew up open to the creative inspiration in everything he encountered: in library books, in music, in artworks, in the lively conversations overheard in the restaurants and barbershops lining the Pittsburgh neighborhood of his childhood. August paid attention. He listened. And when he got older, he got ideas about what to do with everything he’d seen and heard — ideas that would make him one of the greatest playwrights in American history. With expressive illustrations by Alleanna Harris, this ode to one of America’s foremost Black playwrights is also a meditation on culture, erasure, and what ultimately drives an artist’s desire to create.

An interior spread from A Song for August showing a young august Wilson lying on the floor with closed eyes, surrounded by books.

An interior spread from A Song for August showing a nightclub scene with singers and dancers.

Explore A Song for August: The Inspiring Life of Playwright August Wilson

Listen to Sally Denmead talking with TeachingBooks about creating A Song for August: The Inspiring Life of Playwright August Wilson. You can click the player below or experience the recording on TeachingBooks, where you can read along as you listen, and also translate the text to another language.

Invitation to Imagine

TeachingBooks asks each author or illustrator on our Virtual Book Tour to share a writing prompt, a drawing exercise, or just an interesting question to spark curiosity and creativity. Enjoy the following activity contributed by Sally Denmead.

Imagination Activity with Sally Denmead

Try to write like August Wilson! Look (really, really look) at a painting or drawing of people or animals. Get curious about what you think is going on in the picture. Now, if the people or animals in the picture could talk, what do you think they might say to each other? Try writing a one-page (or longer) play for them!

Finish This Sentence . . . with Sally Denmead

As part of our Virtual Book Tour, TeachingBooks asks authors and illustrators to complete short sentence prompts. Enjoy Sally Denmead’s response.

“My protagonist can’t live without…”

My protagonist can’t live without music! August Wilson said that he never did “research” before he wrote his plays, but what he did do was immerse himself in the music of the time period he was writing about. So, if the play was set in the 1920s or the 1970s, he would listen to the music his characters would have been listening to back then. He said that the music and lyrics always helped him to get the right mood for the play.

“A surprising thing that helps me work is…”

A surprising thing that helps me work is quiet! I’m the opposite of August Wilson. I’m a musician, so if I try to listen to music while I’m writing, I get too interested in the music, and then it’s a LONG time before I remember that I’m supposed to be working!

“Where I work is…”

Computer? Check. Pens? Check. Tea? CHECK!

Sally Denmead's computer next to a tea cup and pens in former tea tins.

What is an office without plants? Or Marvin Hamlisch?

the many plants in a window of Sally Denmead's office next to a picture of the composer Marvin Hamlisch.

Thank you!

To wrap up this Virtual Book Tour, we thank Sally Denmead for signing a book for all of us.

the title page of A Song for August signed by the author, Sally Denmead, with the message, "Sing Loud!"

More Connections to Sally Denmead and A Song for August: The Inspiring Life of Playwright August Wilson

Explore all of the titles featured in the TeachingBooks Virtual Book Tour: one link with author interviews, lesson plans, activities, and more!

Author photo is by Jonah Winter. All other text and images are courtesy of Sally Denmead, Alleanna Harris, and Levine Querido and may not be used without expressed written consent.