Richard Wright - biography.

Richard Wright - biography. American novelist and short-story writer Birth September 4, 1908 Death November 28, 1960 Place of Natchez, Mississippi Birth Known For Portraying African Americans who face alienation, racial prejudices, and social oppression in a white society Milestones Early to Mid-1930s Lived in Chicago, Illinois; worked at odd jobs; and wrote for the Federal Writers' Project 1937 Moved to New York and began editing for the Communist Party's Daily Worker newspaper 1938 Published a collection of four novellas as Uncle Tom's Children 1939 Received a Guggenheim Fellowship 1940 Published his first novel, Native Son, a violent story of racial oppression 1945 Published the autobiographical work Black Boy 1946 Visited France at the French government's invitation, and moved there permanently the following year 1953 Published the existential novel The Outsider 1957 Published a collection of essays in White Man, Listen! 1961 Eight Men, a collection of short stories, was posthumously published. 1963 Lawd Today, which he had written in the 1930s, was posthumously published. Did You Wright was valedictorian of his ninth-grade class. Know After leaving school, Wright continued his education by reading books from a segregated public library in Memphis, Tennessee. He had to borrow a white person's library card to check the books out. Wright joined the Communist Party in 1932, and left for ideological reasons in 1944. In the 1950 film version of his novel Native Son, Wright played main character Bigger Thomas. With the novel Native Son, Wright became the first African-American author to have a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. After Wright unexpectedly died of a heart attack, rumors swirled that foul play was involved. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.