American playwright Michael R. Jackson was BOTD in 1981. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he studied playwriting at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He is best known for his musical A Strange Loop, a metafictional drama about an overweight gay Black man writing a musical about an overweight gay Black man. Originally performed off-Broadway in 2019, it was praised for its representation of Black queer experience, winning the 2020 Pulitzer for drama and the Lambda Literary Award for drama. The show transferred to Broadway in 2022, dominating that year’s Tony Awards, where Jackson won best musical and best book of a musical, and was successfully staged in London. Jackson’s recent work includes the musical White Girl in Danger, set in the world of daytime soap operas, and a musical adaptation of the horror film Teeth, co-written with Anna K. Jacobs. Openly gay since forever, Jackson lives in New York City; his current relationship status is unknown.