Richard Wright: Demonic Genius

by Margaret Walker

The hardcover publication of this work resulted in a landmark case, Ellen Wright v. Warner Books Inc. and Margaret Walker.The court ruled in favor of Walker and Warner Books Inc. in a precedent setting opinion. The court's decision, as well as the opinion of the presiding judges is included in this volume.

Genres: Biography, African American, History

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Dr. Margaret Abigail Walker Alexander was an African-American poet and author. She wrote as Margaret Walker. One of her most known poems is "For My People".

Her father Sigismund C. Walker was a Methodist minister and her mother was Marion Dozier Walker. They helped get her started in literature by teaching a lot of philosophy and poetry to her as a child.

In 1935, Walker received her Bachelors of Arts Degree from Northwestern University and in 1936 she began work with the Federal Writers' Project under the Works Progress Administration. In 1942 she received her master's degree in creative writing from the University of Iowa. In 1965 she returned to that school to earn her Ph.D. She also for a time served as a professor at what is today Jackson State University.

Her literature generally contained African American themes. Among her more popular works were her poem For My People, which won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition and her 1966 novel Jubilee, which received critical acclaim.

Margaret Walker died of breast cancer in Chicago in 1998.

Reviews

[Billie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been fascinated by Wright, both as a writer and as a social thinker. I haven't read other full biographies or examined source materials, so I can't speak specifically to the accuracy of all the information, but the tone seems balanced. (I think I read critical reviews of the book suggesting that Walker had a personal axe to grind with Wright, but this didn't come across in my reading.) Wright is portrayed as a troubled individual who persevered through a particularly difficult time in American history and didn't always take the easy road. I was particularly interested in some of the information about the way his books, particularly *Native Son*, were edited.

[Cws]

8135Wal