Richard Wright, an African American writer, wrote provocative stories on race relations. His autobiography, Black Boy, details his impoverished upbringing and passion for literature. Moving to Europe in the 1950s, his work gained an international outlook. Despite criticism, his popularity doubled during the 1960s black social movements. Wright died in 1960, but his works continue to be read and appreciated today. His works include fiction and nonfiction pieces such as Uncle Tom’s Kids, Black Boy, and White Man, Listen!
Richard Wright, born Richard Nathaniel Wright on September 4, 1908, was an African American writer. Wright is known for writing provocative and controversial stories and novels focusing on issues of race and race relations. In fact, he has been credited with helping change the way race and race relations were addressed and discussed in 20th century America.
Richard Wright’s personal experience was marked by growing up in a broken and impoverished family in the South in the 1910s and 1920s. In Black Boy, his autobiography, he writes that he was so hungry that he gorged himself on tap water just so he could appreciate the feeling of having a full stomach. As a young man he moved to the northern United States. Also present in his autobiography are his observations of the differences between the north and the south, as well as discussions of his experiences as a young black man in the north.
In Black Boy, Wright discusses his early passion for literature. In fact, he names the authors he was most taken by, his earliest literary influences. He names Gertrude Stein, HL Mencken, Sinclair Lewis and Marcel Proust as the authors he read avidly as a young man.
In the 1950s Richard Wright’s work acquired a more international outlook. This was largely the result of him moving to Europe. Many literary critics have expressed disappointment at the work the author produced during this period, arguing that he had strayed too far from his roots. In the 1960s, however, Wright’s popularity doubled in the wake of the black social movements of the time.
Richard Wright died on November 28, 1960. His work, however, continued to attract appreciation and interest. In the 1980s, many of his novels and autobiographical works were required to be read in college courses. It is still widely read and discussed today.
Below is a list of Richard Wright’s works, divided by genre. Each list is sorted chronologically.
Fiction
Uncle Tom’s kids
I’m Native
The Outsiders
Wild vacation
The long dream
Eight men
Lawd today
nonfiction
How “bigger” was born; the story of the native son
12 Million Black Voices: A Popular History of the Negro in the United States
Black boy
Black Power
The curtain of colors
Pagan Spain
Wise men
The ethics of Jim Crow living: an autobiographical sketch
Introduction to Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City
I choose exile
White man, listen!
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