Early life
Morris was born and raised in Philadelphia.[5] He attended high school at Girard College, graduating in 1993.[6] While a high school student, he wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer's teen supplement, "Yo! Fresh Ink."[7] In 1997 he graduated from Yale University,[8] where he had been a film critic at The Yale Daily News for four years.
Career
Morris joined The Boston Globe in 2002,[9] where he reviewed films alongside Ty Burr. Morris and Burr also made regular appearances on NECN to discuss the latest films and do the weekly Take Two film review video series on Boston.com.
Before joining the Globe, he wrote film reviews and essays for the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle.[8] He is featured in the 2009 documentary film The Story of American Film Criticism discussing the impact of video store shopping on the importance of film criticism, and how critic Harry Knowles started a questionable revolution of amateurs writing film criticism.
From 2013 to 2015 Wesley Morris wrote for ESPN's website Grantland.[10]
In October 2015, Morris joined The New York Times as critic-at-large, contributing to the newspaper as well as The New York Times Magazine.[11]
In September 2016, Morris and Times colleague Jenna Wortham began hosting a podcast called Still Processing, produced by The New York Times and podcasting company Pineapple Street Media.[12] The podcast received enthusiastic reviews and was named to several year-end lists of the best podcasts of 2016.[13][14][15]
Awards
In 2011, Morris won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for his work at The Boston Globe; the award cited "his smart, inventive film criticism, distinguished by pinpoint prose and an easy traverse between the art house and the big-screen box office."
In 2015, Morris was a finalist for the National Magazine Award for Columns and Commentary,[16] recognized for his 2014 Grantland columns, "Let's Be Real," "After Normal," and "If U Seek Amy."[17]
References
1. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/by/wesley-morris|title=Wesley Morris |last=|first=|date=|website=The New York Times|publisher=|access-date=October 11, 2018}}
2. ^{{Cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/winners/wesley-morris|title=Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe|last=|first=|date=|website=The Pulitzer Prizes|publisher=|access-date=September 11, 2016}}
3. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/08/insider/new-critic-at-large-breathtakingly-funny-absolutely-serious.html|work=The New York Times|title=New Critic at Large: 'Breathtakingly Funny, Absolutely Serious'|author=Lehman, Susan|date=December 8, 2015}}
4. ^{{cite web|work=Twitter|authorlink=Bill Simmons|author=Simmons, Bill |url=https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/284752307193798658 |title=Delighted to announce that Pulitzer Prize winner @wesley_morris joins @Grantland33 full-time and also starting January 1st |deadurl=no |accessdate=February 12, 2013}}
5. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/by/wesley-morris|title=Wesley Morris |last=|first=|date=|website=The New York Times|publisher=|access-date=October 11, 2018}}
6. ^{{cite news|last1=Wayne|first1=Renee Lucas|title=Meet The Gang Who Made Our Ink Fresh|url=http://articles.philly.com/1993-06-24/news/25973987_1_fresh-ink-daa-friend|accessdate=6 October 2016|work=philly-archives|date=June 24, 1993}}
7. ^{{cite news|last1=Burton|first1=Kyle|title=Profiles in Criticism: Wesley Morris {{!}} IndieWire|url=http://www.indiewire.com/2014/02/profiles-in-criticism-wesley-morris-126896/|accessdate=6 October 2016|work=IndieWire|date=February 5, 2014}}
8. ^1 {{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/morris/morrisbio/ |title=Wesley Morris |publisher=Boston.com |accessdate=April 26, 2011}}
9. ^{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/04/17/boston_globe_film_critic_wesley_morris_honored_with_2012_pulitzer_prize/ |title=Globe film writer Morris win Pulitzer for Criticism |newspaper=The Boston Globe |author=Kahn, Joseph P. |date=April 17, 2012 |accessdate=April 18, 2012}}
10. ^{{cite news|last1=Kassel|first1=Matthew|title=Wesley Morris Named Critic at Large in Culture at New York Times|url=http://observer.com/2015/09/wesley-morris-named-critic-at-large-in-culture-at-the-new-york-times/|accessdate=11 September 2016|work=New York Observer|date=17 September 2015}}
11. ^{{cite news|last1=Hayden|first1=Erik|title=New York Times Hires Grantland Writer Wesley Morris|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/new-york-times-hires-grantland-804918|accessdate=11 September 2016|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=September 17, 2015}}
12. ^{{cite news|last1=Doctor|first1=Ken|title=The New York Times gets serious about podcasting|url=http://www.politico.com/media/story/2016/09/the-new-york-times-gets-serious-about-podcasting-004743|accessdate=11 September 2016|work=Politico|date=September 6, 2016}}
13. ^{{cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/12/the-50-best-podcasts-of-2016/510698/|title=The 50 Best Podcasts of 2016|last1=McQuade|first1=Eric|date=December 18, 2016|work=The Atlantic|accessdate=25 February 2017|last2=Standley|first2=Laura Jane}}
14. ^{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/15-notable-podcasts-2016_us_585854cde4b08debb78ab056|title=15 Notable Podcasts Brought To You By 2016|last1=Capewell|first1=Jillian|date=21 December 2016|work=The Huffington Post|accessdate=25 February 2017}}
15. ^{{cite news|url=http://www.indiewire.com/gallery/best-podcasts-2016-episodes/#!34/still-processing/|title=The 50 Best Podcast Episodes of 2016 {{!}} IndieWire|last1=Greene|first1=Steve|date=December 27, 2016|work=IndieWire|accessdate=11 January 2017}}
16. ^{{cite news|last1=Sebastian|first1=Michael|title=ESPN's Grantland Earns Three National Magazine Award Nominations|url=http://adage.com/article/media/grantland-earns-national-magazine-award-nominations/296627/|accessdate=11 September 2016|work=Advertising Age|date=January 15, 2015}}
17. ^{{cite news|last1=Bloomgarden-Smoke|first1=Kara|title=The Finalists for the National Magazine Awards Are …|url=http://observer.com/2015/01/the-finalists-for-the-national-magazine-awards-are/|accessdate=11 September 2016|work=New York Observer|date=15 January 2015}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|1426725}}
- Biography and film reviews at the Globe website
- Appearance on NECN with film critic Ty Burr
{{Portal bar |Journalism |Film |African American}}{{PulitzerPrize Criticism 2001–2025}}{{authority control}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Wesley}} 16 : 1975 births|African-American journalists|American film critics|Pulitzer Prize for Criticism winners|The Boston Globe people|The San Francisco Examiner people|San Francisco Chronicle people|LGBT writers from the United States|Yale University alumni|African-American writers|American writers|Writers from Philadelphia|Living people|Place of birth missing (living people)|Journalists from Pennsylvania|The New York Times people