After graduating from the Univ. of Sydney, Judith Arundell Wright worked variously as a clerk, secretary, and statistician. She is regarded as one of the most important Australian writers of the 20th cent. Her lyric poetry is marked by sensitivity of interpretation and absolute mastery of technique. Among her volumes of poetry are The Moving Image (1946), The Gateway (1953), City Sunrise (1964), Collected Poems, 1942-1970 (1971), and Phantom Dwelling (1985). She also published books for children; biographies of the Australian writers Charles Harpur and Charles Lawson; a volume of short stories (1966); and the critical work Preoccupations in Australian Poetry (1965).
Wright was an activist in her homeland, speaking out and writing on such issues as environmental protection and land rights for aborigines.