Austin McGiffert Wright (1922 – April 23, 2003) was an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

, literary critic and professor emeritus of English at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

Life and career

Wright was born in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

. He grew up in

Hastings-on-Hudson, New York Hastings-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County located in the southwestern part of the town of Greenburgh in the state of New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of midtown Manha ...

, the son of the geographer

John Kirtland Wright John Kirtland Wright (1891–1969) was an American geographer, notable for his cartography, geosophy, and study of the history of geographical thought. He was the son of classical scholar John Henry Wright and novelist Mary Tappan Wright, and the br ...

and Katharine McGiffert Wright, and namesake of his uncle,

Austin Tappan Wright Austin Tappan Wright (August 20, 1883 – September 18, 1931) was an American legal scholar and author, best remembered for his major work of Utopian fiction, ''Islandia (novel), Islandia''. He was the son of classical scholar John Henry Wright ...

, writer of the utopian novel, '' Islandia''. His paternal grandparents were classical scholar

John Henry Wright John Henry Wright (February 4, 1852 – November 25, 1908) was an American classical scholar born at Urumiah (Rezaieh), Persia. He earned his Bachelors (1873) and Masters (1876) at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. After junior appointment ...

and novelist

Mary Tappan Wright Mary Tappan Wright (1851–1916) was an American novelist"Wright, Mary Tappan" in ''The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge''. New York, The Encyclopedia American Corporation, v. 29, 1920, p. 570.Wallace, W. Stewart. ''A Dic ...

. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1943. He served in the Army (1943–1946). He graduated from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, with a master's degree in 1948, and a Ph.D. in 1959. He married Sara Hull Wright, in 1950. They had three children: Joanna Wright (died 2000), Katharine Wright of Berkeley, CA, and Margaret Wright, and two granddaughters, Madeline Giscombe and Elizabeth Perkins. Austin Wright was a professor in the English Department at the University of Cincinnati for almost forty years. Wright died in 2003 in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. When he died, he had realized certain proceeds from the sale of movie rights to his book

Tony and Susan ''Tony and Susan'' is a novel by Austin Wright first published in 1993. The book was initially published by Baskerville Publishers, a small press, after having been turned down by 11 major New York publishers. The book was a critical success and we ...

, but he had no reason to believe that a film would actually be made.

was re-issued, and became a major film, '' Nocturnal Animals'' (2016).

Awards

* 1985

Whiting Award The Whiting Award is an American award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and plays. The award is sponsored by the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation Mrs. (American English) or Mrs (British English; standard E ...

Works

Novels

* ''Camden's Eyes'' Doubleday, 1969 * * * * (revie

* * *

Non-fiction

* ''The American short story in the twenties'', University of Chicago Press, 1961 * *

References

External links

Profile at The Whiting Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Austin 1922 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists Harvard University alumni University of Chicago alumni University of Cincinnati faculty United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Ohio