Richard Wright was an influential African American novelist, poet, essayist and short story writer born in 1908 in Mississippi. Some of his notable works include the novels "Uncle Tom's Children" and "Native Son," and the memoir "Black Boy." He left the American South in 1927 and moved to Chicago, where he joined the Communist Party in the 1930s before breaking with Communism in 1942. Wright continued writing and exploring themes of racism in America until his death in 1960 in Paris, France.

1. Richard Wright
By Jose Lopez

2. • Born: September 4, 1908- November 28, 1960
• Plantation, Roxie, Mississippi
• Occupation: Novelist, poet, essayist, short story
writer
• Notable Works: “Uncle Tom’s Children”,
“Native Son”, “Black Boy”, “ The Outsider”

3. Early Life
• Grandson of slaves and the son of a sharecropper
• Lived in an orphanage; lived with Grandmother and Aunt
• Managed to get to the ninth grade
• Presented a gift with words and was a voracious reader
• Published his first story in a southern African American newspaper at the
age of 16, “The Voodoo of Hell’s Half-Acre”

4. Life in the North
• 1927 Wright left the South and moved to Chicago
• Joined the John Reed Club set by Communist Party
• Fell into Communism in 1932
• 1936 served as literary advisor and press agent for the Negro Federal Theatre

5. Communism Breaks
• 1942 Wright broke Communism
• Began to embrace the idea of Marxism
• Outlined the literary theory for black American writers, “Blueprint for Negro
Writing”

6. Career
• 1938 Published “Uncle Tom’s Children”
• 1940 Published “Native Son”
• 1945 Published “Black Boy”

7. End of An Inspiration
• Died of a heart attack on November 28, 1960 in Paris, France

8. Work Cited
• "Richard Nathaniel Wright." 2014. The Biography.com website. Apr 13 2014