David Wright is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 writer who grew up in Borger, Texas

Borger, Texas

Borger is the largest city in Hutchinson County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,302 at the 2000 census. Borger is named for businessman Asa Philip "Ace" Borger, who also established the Hutchinson County seat of Stinnett and several other small towns in Texas and Oklahoma.- History...

. He holds a B.A. from Carleton College

Carleton College

Carleton College is an independent non-sectarian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. The college enrolls 1,958 undergraduate students, and employs 198 full-time faculty members. In 2012 U.S...

, and an M.F.A. from the MFA Program for Poets & Writers

MFA Program for Poets & Writers

The MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is a graduate creative writing program.-History:The MFA Program for Poets & Writers was founded in the 1960s by poet Joseph Langland and is part of the English Department at the University of Massachusetts...

 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

University of Massachusetts Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...

. He also studied at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales

École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales

The École des hautes études en sciences sociales is a leading French institution for research and higher education, a Grand Établissement. Its mission is research and research training in the social sciences, including the relationship these latter maintain with the natural and life sciences...

. Before he started teaching creative writing, he was a player/coach on various American football teams in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. He teaches at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...

.

Books

Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers (Scribner

Charles Scribner's Sons

Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing a number of American authors including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, Robert A. Heinlein, Thomas Wolfe, George Santayana, John Clellon...

, July 2001).

Other publications

• Shenandoah
• Sixty-four
• The Southern Review
• Painted Bride Quarterly
  Painted Bride Quarterly
  Painted Bride Quarterly is a Philadelphia-based literary magazine.Established in 1973 by Louise Simons and R. Daniel Evans, the magazine is based in Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. It is staffed by a mix of volunteer editors and changing student staff...
  
  '
• African American Review
  African American Review
  The African American Review is a quarterly academic journal and the official publication of the Division on Black American Literature and Culture of the Modern Language Association. The journal covers African-American literature and culture, including theatre, film, the visual arts, interviews,...
  
  
• North Dakota Quarterly Review
• Reflections in Ink
• Virginia English Bulletin
• Naval History
  Naval History
  Naval History is a bi-monthly magazine published by the United States Naval Institute since 1987. The 72-page publication not only includes feature articles spanning the course of Naval History written by significant scholars of their subject, but also has standing features including: "Looking...
  
  
• The CLA Journal
• The Journal of Negro History

Television journalism

"The Pea Island Story," Co-written and co-produced with Stephanie Frederic
and David Zoby. Aired on "BET Tonight," Black Entertainment Television,
February 1999.

Awards

• National Association of Black Journalists
  National Association of Black Journalists
  The National Association of Black Journalists is an organization of African American journalists, students, and media professionals. Founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C...
  
  , Salute to Excellence Award, First

Prize for a Television Feature News-Story, August 2000. "The Pea Island
Story."

• National Endowment for the Humanities
  National Endowment for the Humanities
  The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
  
  , Summer Institute for College and

University Faculty Fellow, W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research,
Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, 1999. "The Civil Rights Movement: History and
Consequences."

• Chancellor’s Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship, Afro-American Studies and

Research Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...

, 1997-98.

• Zora Neale Hurston
  Zora Neale Hurston
  Zora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist, anthropologist, and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance...
  
  /Richard Wright Award, the Zora Neale Hurston/ Richard

Wright Foundation, Fairfax, VA, 1994.

• Paul Cuffe Memorial Fellowship, Munson Institute of American Maritime Studies, Mystic, CT, 1993.

External links

• Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers, with photographs
• Author's page, University of Illinois