Evan Wright

Evan Wright is an American writer, journalist, author and television writer and producer. Wright graduated from Vassar College in New York, where he majored in medieval history. He has reported extensively on subcultures for Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. Though some have compared his writings to those of Hunter S. Thompson, Wright claims his biggest literary influences were Mark Twain and British-American author Christopher Isherwood.

Hustler Magazine

In 1995, he became the entertainment editor and chief pornographic film reviewer for Hustler magazine. In 2000, he wrote about the experience and the issues surrounding the pornography industry and misogyny in an article for 'Salon' entitled 'Maxed Out' and for the 'LA Weekly' entitled 'Scenes From my Life in Porn.'

Military Reporting

In 2002 he went to Afghanistan on assignment for Rolling Stone.

In 2003 he was embedded with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the United States Marine Corps during the early stages of the invasion of Iraq. Wright published a series of articles for Rolling Stone magazine entitled The Killer Elite which, in 2004, received the National Magazine Award for Reporting, the top prize in magazine writing. He then wrote a book entitled Generation Kill about the experience.

Immersion Journalism

As a reporter, Wright wrote extended magazine features and profiles based on his immersion in subcultures ranging from radical environmentalists to neo-Nazis. He also profiled controversial athletes like skateboarder Jim Greco and former UFC Champion Tito Ortiz. Many of these essays were collected in his book Hella Nation which he called a "sort of autobiography.". His collected essays have been compared to Joan Didion's writings .

Television and Film

Generation Kill was adapted into a television miniseries by the HBO network. Wright served as a writer and consulting producer on the project. He collaborated closely with Emmy-winning David Simon. .

Wright worked with director Peter Berg to write a script about Miami's 'Cocaine Cowboys.' Actor Mark Walhburg is producing the film and plans to star in it .

Controversies

Several Marines Wright wrote about in Generation Kill were punished for the remarks he published. Wright has criticized college creative writing programs for producing bad writers. He wrote an op-ed in the New York Times critical of the U.S. military for allowing Iraq's insurgents to obtain weapons .

Awards

Wright has been awarded a J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize from the Columbia University School of journalism, a PEN-USA Literary Prize, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a Wallace M. Greene Award from the U.S. Marine Corps Heritage Society for writing the Best History of the Marine Corps. .

In 2004, received the National Magazine Award for Reporting, the top prize in magazine writing.

In 2008, Wright won his second National Magazine Award for Profile Writing for his Vanity Fair profile titled Pat Dollard's Hollywood.

External links

• Evan Wright's interview with Hustler Magazine
• An Excerpt of Pat Dollard's Hollywood from The Best American Magazine Writing 2008