Talvin Wilks, a 2011 Center theater panelist, is a playwright, director and dramaturg. His plays include Tod, the boy, Tod, The Trial of Uncle S&M, Bread of Heaven, and An American Triptych. Directorial projects include the world premiere productions of UDU by Sekou Sundiata (651Arts/BAM), The Love Space Demands by Ntozake Shange (Crossroads), No Black Male Show/Pagan Operetta by Carl Hancock Rux (Joe's Pub/The Kitchen), Banana Beer Bath by Lynn Nottage, (Going to the River Festival), the Obie Award/AUDELCO Award-winning The Shaneequa Chronicles by Stephanie Berry (Ensemble Studio Theatre), and many others. He has served as co-writer/dramaturg for 10 productions in Ping Chong's ongoing series of Undesirable Elements, and dramaturg for five collaborations with the Bebe Miller Company. He is currently writing a book on black theater, Testament: 40 Years of Black Theatre History in the Making, 1964–2004, and recently curated The Aunt Ester Cycle, a theater festival at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture in Pittsburgh, PA.