Wright, David, 1920-1994

David (John Murray) Wright, the poet and writer, was born on 23 February 1920 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He became deaf at the age of seven, was brought to England at the age of fourteen to attend the Northampton School for the Deaf, and graduated from Oriel College, Oxford, in 1942. Between 1965 and 1967 he was a Gregory Fellow in Poetry at the University of Leeds. His first poetry collection, Poems, was published by Poetry London in 1949. He subsequently published numerous other books of poetry and also edited several anthologies. In 1969 he wrote his autobiography, Deafness: a personal account . He also wrote a few critical works and three books on Portugal. He lived for some years in the Lake District and died in 1994.

From the guide to the Autograph manuscript and typescript drafts of thirteen poems by David Wright, with a letter to Paul Potts, ca. 1947-1983, (Leeds University Library)