theartsdesk Q&A: Playwright Roy Williams

The prolific playwright talks about football and racism

by Aleks SierzSaturday, 24 October 2009

Roy Williams: 'his trademark is sizzling dialogue and a streetwise ear for racial conflict'Photograph by Sarah Lee

Roy Williams is one of the most prolific, and most lauded, British playwrights. Born in Fulham, south-west London, in 1968, he had by his mid-30s already won a shelf-full of awards, to which he added an OBE in 2008. His debut, The No Boys Cricket Club, won the Writers’ Guild New Writer of the Year award in 1996. Two years later Starstruck won three major awards. In the early 2000s Lift Off and Clubland were also successes. In 2004 Williams won the first Arts Council Decibel Award, given to black or Asian artists in recognition of their contribution to the arts.

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