Steven Wright’s debut novel, the political thriller Coyotes of Carthage, was a finalist for both the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence and the Hurston/Wright legacy award for debut fiction. His writings often focus on the intersection of race, political institutions, and moments of personal transformation.
Wright’s essays and opinions have appeared, among other places, in the Washington Post, the New York Review of Books, and Lithub. USA Today has named him among the 100 Black Novelist and Fiction Writers you should read. His expertise has been quoted in the New York Times, BBC, CNN, The Today Show, Politico, Bloomberg, and CBS News. A Kimbilio fiction fellow, he received his M.F.A. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a law professor, voting-rights lawyer, and former director of the Wisconsin Innocence Project.
While at MacDowell, Wright revised several chapters of his novel, which focuses on a World-War II-era capital case in Indiana. The novel features a young Thurgood Marshall and a team of young lawyers. The novel incorporates Wright's experience as a criminal law professor and former director of the Wisconsin Innocence Project.
