Ernest Vincent Wright

An American writer, Ernest Vincent Wright is remembered above all for Gadsby (1939), a novel-length lipogram that avoids the letter “e” almost entirely. The book’s formal challenge is what keeps his name alive: it is an unusual mix of stunt, experiment, and sincere storytelling.

Sources about Wright agree that he was born in the early 1870s and died in 1939, though the exact birth year is not presented consistently across reference pages. What is clear is that he spent years writing before producing the work for which he became known, and that Gadsby appeared in the final year of his life.

Though not a household name, Wright has had a lasting afterlife among fans of constrained writing and curious corners of literary history. His reputation rests on one bold idea carried through with unusual patience, and that has been enough to keep new readers discovering him long after his death.