Richard Wright

Richard Wright (1908–1960) was an American author whose fiction and nonfiction explored racism, poverty, and the psychological pressures of segregation. Born on a plantation near Natchez, Mississippi, he grew up in the Jim Crow South and later moved to Chicago, where he became associated with the Federal Writers’ Project. Wright achieved major acclaim with the novel *Native Son* (1940), and he later published the autobiographical memoir *Black Boy* (1945). His work is often linked to African American literature and social protest writing for its stark realism and political urgency. In 1946 he left the United States and lived in Paris until his death.