Tag Archives: Richard Wright
Falling out
March 12, 2014 I know it’s about Vietnam, about the contested nature of poetry as precipitated by that event. And it couldn’t have been more public. Their letters, now collected into a volume, documented the widening gap, followed by … Continue reading
Ralph Ellison, Gordon Parks: Photographers
Sept 18, 2014 The photos, under the title “A Man Becomes Invisible,” were in Life Magazine, 25 August 1952, close on the heels of novel’s publication earlier that year, on April 14. It was a coup. Parks had been a … Continue reading
March on Washington: unsung
August 28, 2013 No, not literally unsung. In fact, the most memorable moments at the microphone, other than Martin Luther King’s “I had a Dream” speech, featured singers: Mahalia Jackson; Marian Anderson; Peter, Paul and Mary; Joan Baez and … Continue reading
James Baldwin and Richard Wright: What quarrel?
August 7, 2013 It was all very public, well documented. Wright had started out being the central inspiration. Baldwin’s essay, “Notes of a Native Son,” and his essay collection also of that title, are obvious tributes to the long … Continue reading
Richard Wright, Count Basie, Paul Robeson: Collaboration that Happened and Collaboration that Didn’t
July 18, 2012 Richard Wright had always liked boxing, but what intrigued him most of all was probably the personality of Joe Louis – “King Joe” – the world heavyweight boxing champion for more than 11 years, defending his title … Continue reading
World, Globe, Planet: UCLA
February 29, 2012 I’ve always loved the big white buildings of Berkeley, but the brick buildings of UCLA (russet and ochre, so different from the plain red of the east coast) must be more habitable? Royce Hall, with its twin … Continue reading
Richard Wright’s Haiku
November 16, 2011 I never thought his career would end in this way: thousands of these 17-syllable poems, with no narrative, nothing that adds up, just a passing thought, the briefest of observations, seemingly going nowhere: Meticulously The cat licks … Continue reading
Question of scale
November 9, 2011 A great conference at the University of Maryland. “Rethinking World Literature/ Other World Literatures” — this is what a lot of us claim to be doing, but probably not with the same panache, conviction, and embarrassment about … Continue reading Continue reading
Gertrude Stein and Richard Wright
November 2, 2011 When Richard Wright applied for a passport in January 1946, he was turned down. The State Department did not look favorably on left-leaning Americans (in this case, an ex-Communist) leaving their country and maligning it from abroad. … Continue reading