Editing Richard Wright (author) (section)

===Move to France, later life and death===
[[File:Plaque Richard Wright, 14 rue Monsieur-le-Prince, Paris 6.jpg|thumbnail|Plaque commemorating Wright's residence in Paris, at 14, [[Rue Monsieur-le-Prince|rue Monsieur le Prince]].]]

Following a stay of a few months in [[Québec]], Canada, including a lengthy stay in the village of Sainte-Pétronille on the [[Île d'Orléans]],<ref>Jean-Christophe Cloutier, Introduction to ''Jack Kerouac, La vie est d'hommage'' (Boréal, 2016), pp. 31–32.</ref> Wright moved to Paris in 1946. He became a permanent American [[expatriate]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/wright/wright_bio.html|title=Richard Wright Biography|access-date=September 30, 2016}}</ref>

In Paris, Wright became friends with French writers [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] and [[Albert Camus]], whom he had met while still in New York, and he and his wife became particularly good friends with [[Simone de Beauvoir]], who stayed with them in 1947.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bakewell|first=Sarah|title=At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails|publisher=Other Press|year=2016|isbn=978-1590514894|pages=171}}</ref> However, as Michel Fabre argues, Wright's existentialist leanings were more influenced by [[Søren Kierkegaard]], [[Edmund Husserl]], and especially [[Martin Heidegger]].<ref>Fabre, Michel (1993). ''The Unfinished Quest of Richard Wright''. Tr. Isabel Barzun. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press. pp. 374.</ref> In following Fabre's argument, with respect to Wright's existentialist proclivities during the period of 1946 to 1951, Hue Woodson suggests that Wright's exposure to Husserl and Heidegger "directly came as an intended consequence of the inadequacies of Sartre's synthesis of [[existentialism]] and [[Marxism]] for Wright".<ref>Woodson, Hue (2019). "Heidegger and ''The Outsider'', ''Savage Holiday'', and ''The Long Dream''" in ''Critical Insights: Richard Wright'', Ed. Kimberly Drake. Amenia, NY: Grey House, p. 62.</ref>  His [[Existentialist]] phase was expressed in his second novel, ''[[The Outsider (Richard Wright)|The Outsider]]'' (1953), which described an African-American character's involvement with the Communist Party in New York. He also became friends with fellow expatriate writers [[Chester Himes]] and [[James Baldwin]]. His relationship with the latter ended in acrimony after Baldwin published his essay "Everybody's Protest Novel"<ref name=jbhe /> (collected in ''[[Notes of a Native Son]]''), in which he criticized Wright's portrayal of Bigger Thomas as stereotypical. In 1954 Wright published ''Savage Holiday''.

After becoming a French citizen in 1947, Wright continued to travel through Europe, Asia, and Africa. He drew material from these trips for numerous nonfiction works. In 1949, Wright contributed to the anti-communist anthology ''[[The God That Failed]];'' his essay had been published in the ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]'' three years earlier and was derived from the unpublished portion of ''Black Boy.'' He was invited to join the [[Congress for Cultural Freedom]], which he rejected, correctly suspecting that it had connections with the [[CIA]]. Fearful of links between African Americans and communists, the [[FBI]] had Wright under surveillance starting in 1943. With the heightened communist fears of the 1950s, Wright was [[Hollywood blacklist|blacklisted]] by Hollywood movie studio executives. But in 1950, he starred as Bigger Thomas in an [[Argentina|Argentinian]] film version of ''[[Native Son (1951 film)|Native Son]].''

In mid-1953, Wright traveled to the [[Gold Coast (region)|Gold Coast]], where [[Kwame Nkrumah]] was leading the country to independence from British rule, to be established as [[Ghana]]. Before Wright returned to Paris, he gave a confidential report to the United States consulate in [[Accra]] on what he had learned about Nkrumah and his political party. After Wright returned to Paris, he met twice with an officer from the [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]]. The officer's report includes what Wright had learned from Nkrumah's adviser [[George Padmore]] about Nkrumah's plans for the Gold Coast after independence. Padmore, a [[Trinidad]]ian living in London, believed Wright to be a good friend. His many letters in the Wright papers at Yale's Beinecke Library attest to this, and the two men continued their correspondence. Wright's book on his African journey, ''[[Black Power (Richard Wright book)|Black Power]]'', was published in 1954; its London publisher was [[Dennis Dobson]], who also published Padmore's work.<ref>Carol Polsgrove, ''Ending British Rule in Africa: Writers in a Common Cause'' (2009), pp. 125–28.</ref>

Whatever political motivations Wright had for reporting to American officials, he was also an American who wanted to stay abroad and needed their approval to have his passport renewed. According to Wright biographer [[Addison Gayle]], a few months later Wright talked to officials at the American embassy in Paris about people he had met in the Communist Party; at the time these individuals were being prosecuted in the US under the [[Smith Act]].<ref>Carol Polsgrove, ''Divided Minds: Intellectuals and the Civil Rights Movement'' (2001), p. 82.</ref>

Historian Carol Polsgrove explored why Wright appeared to have little to say about the increasing activism of the [[civil rights movement]] during the 1950s in the United States. She found that he was under what his friend Chester Himes called "extraordinary pressure" to avoid writing about the US.<ref name="polsgrove80-81"/> As ''[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]]'' magazine delayed publishing his essay "I Choose Exile", Wright finally suggested publishing it in a white periodical. He believed that "a white periodical would be less vulnerable to accusations of disloyalty".<ref name="polsgrove80-81"/> He thought the ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]'' was interested, but in the end, the piece went unpublished.<ref name="polsgrove80-81">Polsgrove, ''Divided Minds'', pp. 80–81.</ref><ref>Wright, Richard (1951), [https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5c54c9afc8a5790510b95009/5d58141d83100b29bb005da9_Richard%20Wright%20-%20I%20Choose%20Exile.pdf The essay "I Choose Exile"]. Retrieved November 25, 2024.</ref>

In 1955, Wright visited [[Indonesia]] for the [[Bandung Conference]].<ref name=":Gao">{{Cite book |last=Gao |first=Yunxiang |title=Arise, Africa! Roar, China! Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century |date=2021 |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]] |isbn=9781469664606 |location=Chapel Hill|pages=38}}</ref> He recorded his observations on the conference as well as on Indonesian cultural conditions in ''[[The Color Curtain|The Color Curtain: A Report on the Bandung Conference]]''. Wright praised the conference extensively.<ref name=":Gao" /> He gave at least two lectures to Indonesian cultural groups, including [[PEN Club]] Indonesia, and he interviewed Indonesian artists and intellectuals in preparation to write ''The Color Curtain''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Brian|title=Artistic Ambassadors: Literary and International Representation of the New Negro Era|publisher=University of Virginia Press|location=Charlottesville|pages=153–153, 161}}</ref> Several Indonesian artists and intellectuals whom Wright met, later commented on how he had depicted Indonesian cultural conditions in his [[travel writing]].<!-- saying what? he got it or did not? --><ref>{{cite journal|last=Vuyk|first=Beb|title=A Weekend with Richard Wright|journal=PMLA|date=May 2011|volume=126|issue=3|pages=810|doi=10.1632/pmla.2011.126.3.798|s2cid=162272235}}</ref>

Other works by Wright included ''White Man, Listen!'' (1957) and a novel ''The Long Dream'' (1958), which was adapted as a play and produced in New York in 1960 by [[Ketti Frings]]. It explores the relationship between a man named Fish and his father.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0904.html "Richard Wright, Writer, 52, Dies"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 30, 1960.</ref> A collection of [[short story|short stories]], ''Eight Men'', was published posthumously in 1961, shortly after Wright's  death. These works dealt primarily with the poverty, anger, and protests of northern and southern urban black Americans.

His agent, Paul Reynolds, sent strongly negative criticism of Wright's 400-page ''Island of Hallucinations'' manuscript in February 1959.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} Despite that, in March Wright outlined a novel in which his character Fish was to be liberated from racial conditioning and become dominating. By May 1959, Wright wanted to leave Paris and live in London. He felt French politics had become increasingly submissive to United States pressure. The peaceful Parisian atmosphere he had enjoyed had been shattered by quarrels and attacks instigated by enemies of the expatriate black writers.

On June 26, 1959, after a party marking the French publication of ''White Man, Listen!'', Wright became ill. He suffered a virulent attack of [[amoebic dysentery]], probably contracted during his 1953 stay on the Gold Coast. By November 1959, his wife had found a London apartment, but Wright's illness and "four hassles in twelve days" with British immigration officials ended his desire to live in England.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

On February 19, 1960, Wright learned from his agent Reynolds that the New York premiere of the stage adaptation of ''The Long Dream'' had received such bad reviews that the adapter, Ketti Frings, had decided to cancel further performances. Meanwhile, Wright was running into added problems trying to get ''The Long Dream'' published in France. These setbacks prevented his finishing revisions of ''Island of Hallucinations'', for which he was trying to get a publication commitment from [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday and Company]].

In June 1960, Wright recorded a series of discussions for French radio, dealing primarily with his books and literary career. He also addressed the racial situation in the United States and the world, and specifically denounced American policy in Africa. In late September, to cover extra expenses for his daughter Julia's move from London to Paris to attend the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]], Wright wrote blurbs for record jackets for Nicole Barclay, director of the largest record company in Paris.

In spite of his financial straits, Wright refused to compromise his principles. He declined to participate in a series of programs for Canadian radio because he suspected American control. For the same reason, he rejected an invitation from the Congress for Cultural Freedom to go to India to speak at a conference in memory of [[Leo Tolstoy]]. Still interested in literature, Wright helped [[Kyle Onstott]] get his novel ''[[Mandingo (novel)|Mandingo]]'' (1957) published in France.

Wright's last display of explosive energy occurred on November 8, 1960, in his polemical lecture "The Situation of the Black Artist and Intellectual in the United States", delivered to students and members of the [[American Church in Paris]]. He argued that American society reduced the most militant members of the black community to slaves whenever they wanted to question the racial status quo. He offered as proof the subversive attacks of the Communists against ''Native Son'' and the quarrels that [[James Baldwin (writer)|James Baldwin]] and other authors sought with him. On November 26, 1960, Wright talked enthusiastically with Langston Hughes about his work ''Daddy Goodness'' and gave him the manuscript.
[[File:Père-Lachaise - Division 87 - Columbarium - Octobre 2015 - 11.jpg|thumb|Wright's grave in [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]], Paris]]
Wright died of a heart attack in Paris on November 28, 1960, at the age of 52. He was interred in [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]].<ref>https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0904.html&ved=2ahUKEwjQurK23cb_AhWGkWoFHTToCQkQFnoECDUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw26ghzbJUji6I8U88xYYxeo{{Dead link|date=July 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/18/arts/artparis-on-his-mind.html|title=ART {{!}} Paris on His Mind|first=Clarence|last=Major|author-link=Clarence Major|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 18, 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://hazelrowley.com/books/book-3/|title=Richard Wright: The Life and Times|first=Hazel|last=Rowley|website=Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship|access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref> Wright's daughter Julia has claimed that her father was murdered.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rwright.htm |title=Richard Wright |website=Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi) |first=Petri |last=Liukkonen |publisher=[[Kuusankoski]] Public Library |location=Finland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518164622/http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rwright.htm |archive-date=May 18, 2008 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

A number of Wright's works have been published posthumously. In addition, some of Wright's more shocking passages dealing with race, sex, and politics were cut or omitted before original publication of works during his lifetime. In 1991, unexpurgated versions of ''Native Son'', ''Black Boy'', and his other works were published. In addition, in 1994, his novella ''Rite of Passage'' was published for the first time.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/13/books/children-s-books-black-history-bookshelf.html |title=Children's Books/Black History; Bookshelf |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 13, 1994}}</ref>

In the last years of his life, Wright had become enamored of the Japanese poetic form [[Haiku in English|haiku]] and wrote more than 4,000 such short poems. In 1998 a book was published (''Haiku: This Other World'') with 817 of his own favorite haiku. Many of these haiku have an uplifting quality even as they deal with coming to terms with loneliness, death, and the forces of nature.

A collection of Wright's travel writings was published by the [[University Press of Mississippi]] in 2001. At his death, Wright left an unfinished book, ''A Father's Law'',<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/books/review/Powers-t.html?_r=0 |title=Ambiguities |author-link=Ron Powers|first=Ron|last=Powers|newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 24, 2008}}</ref> dealing with a black policeman and the son he suspects of murder. His daughter Julia Wright published ''A Father's Law'' in January 2008. An omnibus edition containing Wright's political works was published under the title ''Three Books from Exile: Black Power; The Color Curtain''; and ''White Man, Listen!''