Wright travels to France in May as a guest of the French government, is well received by French intellectuals, and stays until December. Returning to New York, Wright encounters continuing racism. Wright, Ellen and Julia return to Paris, where they become permanent expatriates. Wright refuses to return to the United States citing risk of subpoena by an anti-Communist congressional investigating committee. The Outsider is published in March to mixed reviews.
Wright travels throughout Africa's Gold Coast.
He travels through Spain and attends the Bandung Conference. A Report on the Bandung Conference is published in English in March, having appeared in French three months earlier. He places emphasis on race as the crucial factor in resolving the problems of Western and third world c ultures. Wright dies of an apparent heart attack on November 28. He is cremated along with a copy of Black Boy , his autobiography at the Pere Lachaise cemetery on December 3.