Cover image: Signage - Richard Wright tribute at the Red Wheelbarrow
© Entrée to Black Paris

Monday, 4 September 2023 was the 115th anniversary of Richard Nathaniel Wright's birth.  To celebrate his legacy, I am providing links to publications that Entrée to Black Paris has posted about him in the past:

Richard Wright Community Center

Richard Wright Estate Acquires Copy of Paris Walking Tour Honoring Expat Author Richard Wright

Richard Wright at the Red Wheelbarrow

Daddy Goodness - A Play by Richard Wright

and sharing the following fun facts about Wright's time in Paris (1946-1960).

Richard Wright and Gordon Parks in Paris

Gordon Parks photographed Richard Wright in the U.S. in 1943.  This was prior to both men's first visit to Paris.

Photo portraits of Richard Wright by Gordon Parks (1943)
Images in public domain

During his two-year stint as a staff photographer for Life Magazine, Parks invited Wright to lunch in Paris and asked Wright to select the restaurant.  Wright selected Maxim's, the tony bistro located a stone's throw from Place de la Concorde.  Parks introduced Wright to actress Rita Hayworth and Prince Aly Khan.  Hayworth promptly informed Wright that she had read and loved his novel, Native Son.

Richard Wright and Shakespeare and Company

George Whitman of the Mistral Bookshop (later to be renamed Shakespeare and Company) organized a reception for Wright on November 17, 1956. 

Crop from Paris Book News announcement
Fair use claim

The bookstore has posted a photograph of Wright on the exit door; it faces the street so passersby can admire it. 

In the photo, Wright is perusing the book display on the sidewalk in front of the store.

Shakespeare and Company exit door
Photo of Richard Wright in red oval
© Entrée to Black Paris

Wright and his wife Ellen socialized with Sylvia Beach, the original owner of Shakespeare and Company.  They first met in 1946 when Wright sought Beach out regarding a business proposition, not knowing that she closed Shakespeare and Company in 1941.

Favorite Foods

Biographer Hazel Rowley wrote that Wright partook of the following foods at Leroy Haynes' iconic soul food restaurant:

fried Georgia catfish

barbecued pig feet

chitterlings

collard greens

Southern fried chicken

Façade of Haynes' Restaurant
© Discover Paris!

Given Wright's southern U.S. roots, this is less than surprising.