Col richard wright biography writer

(1908-1960)

Who Was Richard Wright?

Richard Wright was an African American writer and poet who published his first short story at the age of 16.

Col richard wright biography writer

Later, he found employment with the Federal Writers' Project and received critical acclaim for Uncle Tom's Children, a collection of four stories. He is well-known for his 1940 bestseller Native Son and his 1945 autobiography, Black Boy.

Early Life

Richard Nathaniel Wright was born on September 4, 1908, in Roxie, Mississippi.

The grandson of slaves and the son of a sharecropper, Wright was largely raised by his mother, a caring woman who became a single parent after her husband left the family when Wright was five years old.

Schooled in Jackson, Mississippi, Wright only managed to get a ninth-grade education, but he was a voracious reader and showed early on that he had a way with words.

When he was 16, a short story of his was published in a Southern African American newspaper, an encouraging sign for future