Wright Morris
Encyclopedia
Wright Marion Morris was an American
novelist, photographer, and essayist. He is known for his portrayals of the people and artifacts of the Great Plains
in words and pictures, as well as for experimenting with narrative forms. Wright Morris died April 25, 1998 at the age of 88 years. He is buried in the Chapman Cemetery.
, Nebraska
; his boyhood home is on the National Register of Historic Places
. His mother, Grace Osborn Morris, died six days after he was born. His father, William Henry Morris, worked for the Union Pacific Railroad
. After Grace's death, Wright was cared for by a nanny, until his father made a trip to Omaha
and returned with a young wife, Gertrude. In Will's Boy, Morris states, "Gertrude was closer to my age than to my father's". Gertrude hated small-town life, but got along famously with Wright, as they shared many of the same childish tastes (both loved games, movies, and ice cream). In 1919, the family moved to Omaha, where they resided until 1924.
During that interlude, Morris spent two summers on his uncle's farm near Norfolk, Nebraska
. Photographs of the farm, as well as the real-life characters of Uncle Harry and Aunt Clara, appear in Morris's books.
s in 1942, 1946, and 1954. In 1975, he won the Mari Sandoz
Award recognizing "significant, enduring contribution to the Nebraska book world". In 1979, he received the Western Literature Association's Distinguished Achievement Award. In 1981, he won the Los Angeles Times' Book Prize Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement. In 1982, a jury of Modern Language Association
members selected him for the Common Wealth Award for distinguished service in literature. In 1986, he was honored with a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts
.
(CCP) at the University of Arizona
in Tucson
, which also manages the copyright of these photographs.
The Lincoln City Libraries
of Lincoln, NE, houses some Morris correspondence and taped interviews in The Gale E. Christianson Collection of Eiseley Research Materials and The Wright Morris-Victor Musselman Correspondence collection.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries houses a collection of Wright Morris papers, including material donated by Josephine Morris (1927-2002), widow of Wright Morris.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist, photographer, and essayist. He is known for his portrayals of the people and artifacts of the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
in words and pictures, as well as for experimenting with narrative forms. Wright Morris died April 25, 1998 at the age of 88 years. He is buried in the Chapman Cemetery.
Early life
Morris was born in Central CityCentral City
In city planning, a Central City is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area, of which the other smaller cities and towns of the metropolitan area are suburbs. A central city is usually the first settlement established in an urban region before the outlying districts came...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
; his boyhood home is on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. His mother, Grace Osborn Morris, died six days after he was born. His father, William Henry Morris, worked for the Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
. After Grace's death, Wright was cared for by a nanny, until his father made a trip to Omaha
Omaha
Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
and returned with a young wife, Gertrude. In Will's Boy, Morris states, "Gertrude was closer to my age than to my father's". Gertrude hated small-town life, but got along famously with Wright, as they shared many of the same childish tastes (both loved games, movies, and ice cream). In 1919, the family moved to Omaha, where they resided until 1924.
During that interlude, Morris spent two summers on his uncle's farm near Norfolk, Nebraska
Norfolk, Nebraska
Norfolk is a city in Madison County, Nebraska, United States, 113 miles northwest of Omaha and 83 miles west of Sioux City at the intersection of U.S. Routes 81 and 275. The population was 24,210 at the 2010 census, making it the ninth-largest city in Nebraska. It is the principal city of the...
. Photographs of the farm, as well as the real-life characters of Uncle Harry and Aunt Clara, appear in Morris's books.
Selected works
- My Uncle Dudley (1942)
- The Man Who Was There (1945)
- The Inhabitants (photo-text) (1946)
- The Home Place (photo-text) (1948)
- The World in the Attic (1949)
- Man and Boy (1951)
- The Works of Love (1952)
- The Deep Sleep (1953)
- The Huge Season (1954) (National Book AwardNational Book AwardThe National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
finalist) - The Field of VisionThe Field of VisionThe Field of Vision is a 1956 novel by Wright Morris, written in the style of High modernism. It won the National Book Award in 1956.-External links:* at amazon.com* at Google Book Search...
(1956) (National Book Award winner) - Love Among the Cannibals (1957) (National Book Award finalist)
- Ceremony in Lone Tree (1960) (National Book Award finalist)
- One Day 1965)
- A Bill of Rites, a Bill of Wrongs, a Bill of Goods (essays) (1968)
- God's Country and My People (photo-text) (1968)
- In Orbit (1971)
- Fire Sermon (1971)
- A Life (1973)
- "" (Short Stories) (1976)
- The Fork River Space Project (1977)
- Plains Song: For Female Voices (1980) (National Book Award winner)
- Will's Boy (1981)
- "Victrola" (1982) (short story in The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
; O. Henry AwardO. Henry AwardThe O. Henry Award is the only yearly award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American master of the form, O. Henry....
third prize) - Solo (1983)
- A Cloak of Light (1985)
- "Glimpse Into Another Country" (1985) (short story in The New Yorker; O. Henry Award)
- Time Pieces: Photographs, Writing, and Memory (1989)
Awards and honors
In addition to the National Book Awards for The Field of Vision and Plains Song, Morris received numerous other honors. He was granted Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
s in 1942, 1946, and 1954. In 1975, he won the Mari Sandoz
Mari Sandoz
Mari Susette Sandoz was a novelist, biographer, lecturer, and teacher. She was one of Nebraska's foremost writers, and wrote extensively about pioneer life and the Plains Indians, and has been occasionally referred to as Mari S...
Award recognizing "significant, enduring contribution to the Nebraska book world". In 1979, he received the Western Literature Association's Distinguished Achievement Award. In 1981, he won the Los Angeles Times' Book Prize Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement. In 1982, a jury of Modern Language Association
Modern Language Association
The Modern Language Association of America is the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature...
members selected him for the Common Wealth Award for distinguished service in literature. In 1986, he was honored with a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
.
Archives
The full archive of Wright Morris photographs is located at the Center for Creative PhotographyCenter for Creative Photography
The Center for Creative Photography , established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American photographers including those of Edward Weston, Harry Callahan and Garry...
(CCP) at the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
in Tucson
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, which also manages the copyright of these photographs.
The Lincoln City Libraries
Lincoln City Libraries
Lincoln City Libraries is the official public library system in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. There are eight total branches.The main location is Bennett Martin Public Library in Lincoln's downtown area, which includes three floors and a basement. Bennett Martin is also home to Polley Music Library and...
of Lincoln, NE, houses some Morris correspondence and taped interviews in The Gale E. Christianson Collection of Eiseley Research Materials and The Wright Morris-Victor Musselman Correspondence collection.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries houses a collection of Wright Morris papers, including material donated by Josephine Morris (1927-2002), widow of Wright Morris.
External links
- Official sites
- Guide to the Wright Morris Papers at The Bancroft Library