Farnsworth Wright was an American editor, poet, and critic best remembered as the editor of Weird Tales during much of the magazine’s classic period. From the mid-1920s until 1940, he helped define the market for weird fiction, fantasy, horror, and early science-fictional adventure.
Table of Contents
| Quick fact | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Farnsworth Wright |
| Born | July 29, 1888 |
| Birthplace | Santa Barbara, California |
| Died | June 12, 1940 |
| Education | University of Nevada; University of Washington |
| Known for | Editor of Weird Tales |
| Editorial period | November 1924-March 1940 |
| Associated writers | H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Seabury Quinn, Robert Bloch |
Early Life and Education
Wright was born in Santa Barbara, California, and studied at the University of Nevada and the University of Washington. At Washington he was active in journalism and graduated with a degree in journalism in 1914. His early interests included poetry, music, classical literature, and criticism, all of which later shaped his editorial taste.
Before becoming famous in pulp publishing, Wright worked in journalism and music criticism. He also served in the U.S. Army during World War I. Those experiences gave him a background different from the stereotypical pulp editor: literary, musical, and journalistic rather than only commercial.
Editor of Weird Tales
Wright joined Weird Tales first as a manuscript reader and became editor after Edwin Baird. His first issue as editor was dated November 1924. Under his direction, the magazine became the central American market for weird fiction and a crucial home for writers whose work did not fit neatly into ordinary adventure, detective, or romance categories.
His editorial record was complex. He published major work by H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Seabury Quinn, Edmond Hamilton, and many others, yet he also rejected pieces that later became famous. That mixture of vision and inconsistency is part of why Wright remains such an interesting editor to study.
Artists, Poetry and the Look of Weird Tales
Wright’s influence was not limited to prose. He supported poetry in a market where verse rarely had much commercial value, and he helped launch or encourage the careers of important fantasy artists such as Margaret Brundage, Virgil Finlay, and Hannes Bok. The magazine’s identity was visual as well as literary.
Health, Resignation and Death
Wright suffered from Parkinson’s disease for many years, and the illness increasingly affected his work. His health forced him to leave Weird Tales in 1940. Dorothy McIlwraith succeeded him as editor, and Wright died later that year in New York.
Legacy
Farnsworth Wright’s legacy is the classic shape of Weird Tales: strange, uneven, adventurous, literary, lurid, and historically central. He made room for stories that other magazines might have found too odd, too atmospheric, or too difficult to classify. For that reason, he remains one of the key editorial figures in the history of fantasy, horror, and weird fiction.
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