Pulitzer-winning playwright James Ijames will join the tenured faculty at Columbia University's Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies as an associate professor of theatre.
“Y’all I am thrilled to join this faculty," says Ijames in a statement. "Columbia is filled with artists and scholars I admire and respect. I arrive here at a potent moment of change, a real inflection point. This, historically, fuels the artist to respond. I’m trying to do a little of that. I love plays and playwrights and talking about plays and just expanding what a play can be. Columbia feels like a good place for that. Come see us.”
Ijames' appointment follows a national search conducted by a faculty-led committee. "James impressed everyone with his candor, warmth, commitment to teaching, and his insight into fostering innovation in this most collaborative of art forms," says Professor of Professional Practice and Dramaturgy Concentration Head Christian Parker. "James’ already stunning and ascendant career as a playwright speaks for itself, and will no doubt be a huge source of inspiration for our students."
"James Ijames is a singular artist, teacher, and thinker,” adds Pulitzer-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, also part of Columbia's faculty. “He will infuse the halls of Dodge with dynamic energy, innovation, and a sense of community that have all become hallmarks of his practice as both a writer and director. We are excited to have his leadership and wisdom in our playwriting concentration."
Ijames' Fat Ham won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2022, after premiering as a pandemic-era streaming presentation from Philadelphia's Wilma Theatre. Since then, the work came to Off-Broadway's Public Theater before transferring to Broadway, the latter in 2023. He has since returned to the Public with Good Bones, and, most recently, penned additional book material for their musical Goddess.
The Pulitzer winner's work has also been produced by Flashpoint Theater Company, Orbiter 3 (of which Ijames is a founding member), Theatre Horizon, Theatre Exile, Azuka Theatre, The National Black Theatre, JACK, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, Definition Theatre, Timeline Theater, and Shotgun Players. He holds degrees from Morehouse College and Temple University.
Nikki Crawford, Billy Eugene Jones, Benja Kay Thomas, Marcel Spears,
Adrianna Mitchell, and Calvin Leon Smith
Calvin Leon Smith, Nikki Crawford, Billy Eugene Jones, Benja Kay
Thomas, Adrianna Mitchell, and Marcel Spears
Marcel Spears and Adrianna Mitchell
Nikki Crawford, Billy Eugene Jones, Benja Kay Thomas, Adrianna Mitchell, Calvin Leon Smith, and Marcel Spears
Adrianna Mitchell and Benja Kay Thomas
Marcel Spears and Nikki Crawford in Fat Ham
Marcel Spears
Marcel Spears and Calvin Leon Smith in Fat Ham
Marcel Spears and Billy Eugene Jones
Adrianna Mitchell, Chris Herbie Holland, and Marcel Spears
