Eric Wright (writer)

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Eric Wright
Born (1929-05-04) May 4, 1929
London, England
Occupation Writer
Nationality Canadian

Eric Wright (born 4 May 1929) is a professor and Canadian writer of mystery novels.

Wright was born on Kennington Park Road,[1] in South London, England. He is the son of seamstress Caroline (Curnow), and carter Joseph Wright.[2] Wright was born to a large poor family of ten children.[3] After growing up in Lambeth, he immigrated to Canada in 1951.[4]

He attended the University of Manitoba where he completed his B.A. (1957),and the University of Toronto where he received his M.A. (1963).[5] Until his retirement Wright taught English at Ryerson Polytechnic University, Toronto (1958–89).[6] Wright now continues to live in Toronto, Ontario with his wife and two daughters.[7]

Wright's books have won numerous awards over the years. Four of his novels have been awarded the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel. Among them The Night the Gods Smiled, which also received the 1984 City of Toronto Book Award, and Britain's John Creasy Memorial Award for a best crime drama.[8] Smoke Detector and Death in the Old Country are also books that have received the Arthur Ellis Award.[9] In 1998, Wright received the Derrick Murdoch Award for lifetime contributions to Canadian crime writing. His novel The Kidnapping of Rosie Dawn went on to be nominated for the Edgar Award.[10]

Reviews

Eric Wright is the author of four detective series. The first Charlie Salter book won the Arthur Ellis Award, the John Creasey Award, and the City of Toronto Book Award. Wright has also written a comic novel and an engaging memoir of growing up in working-class London, England.[11]

Wright is best known for his series of police procedurals, which features Metropolitan Toronto police inspector Charlie Salter.[12] The Charlie Salter Mysteries are "noteworthy for Wright's lucid and agreeably laconic style".[13]

In a book review of another one of Wright’s novels Moodie’s Tale, Wright has been described as having “created a protagonist who can conduct the reader through the convoluted maze of academic life”.[14] Moodie’s Tale (1994) follows the adventurous career of a young Cambridge graduate with an M.A. from Simcoe University. It has been said that “it would not be all that surprising… if Moodie’s Tale became an underground handbook for anyone contemplating—or currently enmeshed in – an academic career”.[15]

Wright's memoir Always Give a Penny to a Blind Man covers most of his life, all the way from when he was a child growing up poor in London, to when he immigrated to Canada and began University. His "early life experiences [are said to have] contributed to his...gift for fiction".[16] Over the years Wright has built up an international reputation among mystery lovers.[17]

Bibliography

Charlie Salter Mysteries

  • The Night the Gods Smiled (1984)
  • Smoke Detector (1984)
  • Death in the Old Country (1985)
  • A Single Death (1986)
  • A Body Surrounded by Water (1987)
  • A Question of Murder (1988)
  • A Sensitive Case (1990)
  • Final Cut (1991)
  • A Fine Italian Hand (1992)
  • Death by Degrees (1993)
  • The Last Hand[18] (2002) Dundurn Press
  • A Charlie Salter Omnibus[19](2003) Dundurn Press

Lucy Trimble Brenner Mysteries

Mel Pickett Mysteries

  • Buried in Stone (1996)
  • Death of A Hired Man (2001)

Joe Barley Mysteries

  • The Kidnapping of Rosie Dawn (2000)
  • The Hemingway Caper[22] (2003) Dundurn Press
  • A Likely Story (2010)

Memoirs

  • Always Give a Penny to a Blind Man (1999)

Other

  • Moodie's Tale (1994)
  • Twins (2001)
  • Finding Home (2007)

References

  1. ↑ Wright, Eric.Always Give a Penny to a Blind Man. Key porter Books, 2002.
  2. ↑ Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. University of Toronto Press, 2002.
  3. ↑ Wright, Eric. Always Give a Penny to a Blind ManKey porter Books, 2002.
  4. ↑ Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. University of Toronto Press, 2002.
  5. ↑ The Concise Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. Oxford University Press Canada, 2001.
  6. ↑ The Concise Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. Oxford University Press Canada, 2001.
  7. ↑ Books Bytes, http://www.booksnbytes.com/authors/wright_eric.html. Nov. 1, 2010.
  8. ↑ The Concise Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. Oxford University Press Canada, 2001.
  9. ↑ The Concise Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. Oxford University Press Canada, 2001.
  10. ↑ St. Martin's Press, MacMillan Books. http://us.macmillan.com/authors/ericwright. Nov. 1, 2010.
  11. ↑ http://www.dundurn.com/authors/eric_wright
  12. ↑ The Concise Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. Oxford University Press Canada, 2001.
  13. ↑ The Concise Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. Oxford University Press Canada, 2001.
  14. ↑ Wright, Eric. Books in Canada. Toronto: Oct 1994. Vol. 23, Iss. 7; pg. 44.
  15. ↑ Wright, Eric. Books in Canada. Toronto: Oct 1994. Vol. 23, Iss. 7; pg. 44.
  16. ↑ The Concise Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. Oxford University Press Canada, 2001.
  17. ↑ Scholtz, Mathew. the Tillsonbug News, 2010.
  18. ↑ http://www.dundurn.com/books/last_hand
  19. ↑ http://www.dundurn.com/books/charlie_salter_omnibus
  20. ↑ http://www.dundurn.com/books/death_sunday_writer
  21. ↑ http://www.dundurn.com/books/death_rocks
  22. ↑ http://www.dundurn.com/hemingway_caper
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