Farnsworth Wright

author

Farnsworth Wright

1888–1940

Best known as the longtime editor who helped shape Weird Tales, he played a major role in bringing early fantasy and horror fiction to magazine readers in the pulp era. His name is closely linked with writers such as H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Clark Ashton Smith.

1 Audiobook

After Two Nights of the Ear-ache

by Farnsworth Wright

About the author

Born in 1888 and deceased in 1940, Farnsworth Wright is remembered chiefly as an American magazine editor rather than as a prolific author. He became a central figure in early twentieth-century weird fiction through his work at Weird Tales, one of the most influential pulp magazines of its day.

As editor, Wright was known for championing unusual, imaginative stories and helping define the magazine's distinct mix of horror, fantasy, and adventure. Under his editorial watch, Weird Tales published fiction by writers who later became major names in speculative literature, including H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Clark Ashton Smith.

He also edited Oriental Stories, another pulp magazine aimed at exotic adventure fiction. Even when readers know little about him personally, his editorial influence is easy to trace: he helped shape the tone, taste, and ambition of classic pulp fantasy and horror during a formative period for the genre.