Richard Wright – 20th-century American author of Native Son and Black Boy, whose works gave voice to Black America. His writing exposed racism, poverty, and alienation, shaping a new literary movement and influencing future civil rights writers.
🌍 Born in Mississippi under harsh segregation. 📚 As a child, discovered libraries as his “paradise escape.” 🚂 Moving to Chicago connected him with literary circles. 📰 Worked for the WPA Writer’s Project during the Great Depression. 🔥 Native Son shocked readers and sparked debates about racial stereotypes. 🖋️ Black Boy became a landmark in autobiographical literature. 🌍 Later lived in France, where he felt freer than in the US. 🤝 Befriended Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. 📖 His style is described as “hard realism with an existential edge.” 😉 Once admitted he wrote at night so his voice could “break through the silence.” 😄 Joked that his favourite genre was “anything that terrifies the censors.”