Ronald Wright

2009

Ronald Wright was born in England to Canadian and British parents, and lives on Canada’s west coast. A novelist, historian and essayist, he has won awards in all three genres and is published worldwide in sixteen languages. He is the author of nine books, including the 2004 CBC Massey Lectures, A Short History of Progress, which won the Libris Award for Nonfiction Book of the Year and is now in production as a documentary film.

Wright’s first novel, A Scientific Romance, won Britain’s David Higham Prize for Fiction and was chosen a book of the year by the New York Times, the Sunday Times, and the Globe & Mail. His other bestsellers include Time Among the Maya and Stolen Continents, an award-winning history of the Americas since Columbus.

Wright contributes criticism to the Times Literary Supplement, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications.  He has also written and presented documentaries for radio and television on both sides of the Atlantic. His latest book, What Is America? A Short History of the New World Order, was a No.1 bestseller and finalist for the B.C. Book Prize.

“Ronald Wright is an historical philosopher with a profound understanding of other cultures.” — Jan Morris