An Irish American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Chekhov, Ibsen and Strindberg. His plays were among the first to include speeches in American vernacular and involve characters on the fringes of society, where they struggle to maintain their hopes and aspirations, but ultimately slide into disillusionment and despair. He wrote only one well-known comedy (Ah, Wilderness!) - nearly all of his other plays involve some degree of tragedy and personal pessimism.