Wright was born on May 31, 1915, and grew up near Armidale in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state. She spent her childhood immersed in the rural Australian landscape as the eldest of three children in a well-off and literate family. Wright was lucky to have a childhood filled with reading, especially poetry, which her mother read to her from a young age. Her initial education was through correspondence courses provided by the New South Wales government for those in rural regions. This form of education allowed Wright to experience less strict regimentation, a beneficial trait for a future poet. At the age of twelve, the same year her mother passed away, Wright attended the New South Wales Girls’ School, where she met a teacher who encouraged her to write poetry.

In 1933, as a teenager, Wright left school but took one class at the University of Sydney. This light schedule gave her the opportunity to read extensively beyond her class requirements. At twenty-two, Wright traveled through Europe and later visited Sri Lanka. Over the next few years, she worked various office jobs, eventually becoming an assistant to a geography professor. With the onset of World War II, she returned home to assist with the family property. In 1943, at the age of twenty-eight, Wright joined the administrative staff at the University of Queensland. There, she assisted the editor of Meanjin in producing what would become Australia’s most influential literary magazine. In 1946, the editor of Meanjin published Wright’s first book of poems, The Moving Image, which became a significant success in Australian poetry. Two years earlier, Wright had met her husband, philosopher J. P. McKinney, who greatly influenced her work. Before McKinney's death in 1966, the couple had one daughter.

Wright has published numerous poetry collections, including The Gateway (1953), which features her acclaimed poem “Drought Year.” She has also authored children's literature and short stories, edited poetry anthologies, documented her family’s history, and written on conservation topics. In 1962, she co-founded the Wild Life Preservation Society of Queensland and served multiple terms as its president. In this role, she played a crucial part in the effort to save the Great Barrier Reef, located off Australia’s northeastern coast.

Wright, the recipient of numerous significant honorary doctorates and awards, ultimately received Australia’s most esteemed literary honor, the Australia-Britannica Award for Literature. In 1970, she was inducted as a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, becoming the only member elected solely on the basis of a literary career. She also represented Australian writers on trips to Canada and India and delivered guest lectures at various universities. In 1992, Wright was awarded the Queen’s Prize for Poetry, and in 1995, she received the Human Rights for Poetry Award, particularly for her advocacy for the Aboriginal cause. She encapsulates her philosophy with these words: “I have, I suppose, been trying to expiate a deep sense of guilt over what we [white settlers] have done to the country, to its first inhabitants of all kinds, and are still and increasingly doing.”