Playwright, OyamO (Charles F. Gordon) was born in Lorain, OH, 1943. OyamO received a B.A. from the College of New Rochelle, School of New Resources, 1979, and an M.F.A. in playwriting from Yale University, School of Drama, 1981. He also studied at several universities, and colleges in the fields of theater, writing, and journalism. He gained theatrical experience with the New Lafayette Theater as a member of the Black Theater Workshop. From 1970 to 1977, OyamO founded the Black Magicians theater company; he was assistant manager of the American Place Theater; master electrician of the Negro Ensemble Company; playwright-in-residence at the Afro-American Cultural Center, Buffalo, NY; director of the Black Theater Workshop; scriptreader for the New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater; and director of the Street Theater, Eastern Correctional Institute, Napanoch, NY.
From 1979 to 1983, OyamO was instructor of dramatic literature and theater studies at the College of New Rochelle. From 1982 to 1983 he was writer-in-residence at Emory University, Atlanta, where he also taught playwriting classes. His poetry and prose are published in different periodicals, and anthologies. OyamO received a Rockefeller Foundation Playwright-in-Residence Grant, 1972; Creative Artists Public Service Program grants, 1972-1974, and 1985; and Guggenheim Fellowship, 1973; He is a recipient of Ohio Arts Council Award, 1979; Molly Kazan Award, and Yale University School of Drama award, 1980. OyamO was a Rockefeller Playwright-in-Residence in Frank Silvera Writers Workshop, 1983-1984.