Morris, Wright Marion

▪ 1999

      American writer and photographer (b. Jan. 6, 1910, Central City, Neb.—d. April 29, 1998, Mill Valley, Calif.), wrought careful examinations of the American character in novels, short fiction, essays, and photographs. Although his novels were set in many different parts of the country, Morris was best known for his portrayal of the bleak life on the Nebraska prairie, which was the setting for what many critics considered his most successful novel, Ceremony in Lone Tree (1960). Morris spent his adolescence in Chicago and with his father embarked on automobile trips between Chicago and California, journeys that inspired his first novel, My Uncle Dudley (1942). In 1930 he moved to Claremont, Calif., where he attended Pomona College. Morris dropped out of school to travel in Europe, returning to begin a career in writing. In 1940 he embarked on a photographic tour of the U.S., capturing images of an agricultural America that was fading into the past; this work became the focus of The Inhabitants (1946). After living many years in Pennsylvania, Morris returned to California and in 1963 began teaching creative writing at San Francisco State University, a post he held until his retirement in 1975. During his career Morris published about 20 novels, 5 books of photographs, 4 compilations of essays, 2 short-story collections, and 3 memoirs. Despite being honoured with numerous awards, including the 1957 National Book Award for the novel The Field of Vision, the 1981 American Book Award for the novel Plains Song, and the Commonwealth Award for distinguished service in literature (1982), his work attracted less attention than many critics felt it deserved.

* * *