Morris, Wright

Morris, Wright (Wright Marion Morris), 1910–98, American writer, b. Central City, Nebr. He was for many years professor of English at San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State Univ.). His fiction treats the relationship of the burden of American history to the present, and the evolution and continuity of the American character. His novels include The World in the Attic (1949), Love among the Cannibals (1957), Fire Sermon (1971), and Plains Song (1980). The Territory Ahead (1958) is a study of American literary tradition, and About Fiction (1975) is a critical work. Morris was also a photographer, noted particularly for his images of the Great Plains and for his combinations of text and photographs.

Bibliography

See his memoirs Will's Boy (1981), Solo (1983), and A Cloak of Light (1985). See studies by L. Howard (1968) and G. B. Crump (1978).

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Morris, Wright (Marion) (1910–  ) writer, photographer; born in Central City, Nebr. He studied at Crane College (1929) and Pomona College (1930–33). He was a lecturer at numerous institutions and a professor at California State University: San Francisco (1962–75). Praised by the critics but ignored by the general public, his novels, short stories, and critical essays gained him the reputation of a "writer's writer." He is also noted for his photographs, which, like his best fiction, have a spare, understated tone. His best known works are The Field of Vision (1956), and Plains Song: For Female Voices (1980).