American Hunger

work by Wright

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 19, 2026

Quick Summary

American Hunger is a posthumously published autobiographical work by Richard Wright, released in 1977. It details Wright's experiences after migrating from the American South to the North, focusing on his struggles with poverty, race, and politics. The work is considered a continuation of his earlier autobiography, Black Boy, and offers candid insights into the discrimination and injustices faced by Black people in the United States during that era. Some of the more revealing passages concerning race, sex, and politics were originally omitted or cut and were later restored in unexpurgated versions.1

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

3 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Richard Wright
Posthumous publications
The autobiographical American Hunger, which narrates Wright’s experiences after moving to the North, was also published posthumously, in 1977. Some of the more candid passages dealing with race, sex, and politics in Wright’s books had been cut or omitted before their original publication. Unexpurgated versions of Native…
Read More
The autobiographical American Hunger, which narrates Wright’s experiences after moving to the North, was also published posthumously, in 1977. Some of the more candid passages dealing with race, sex, and politics in Wright’s books had been cut or omitted before their original publication. Unexpurgated versions of Native…
Read More