 After publishing a poetry chapbook in 1972 he won the Norma Bailey Award, a literary prize for unpublished writing by Canadian university students, in 1974 for an excerpt from his novel manuscript "The Coming of Winter", and the novel was published later that year as his fiction debut.Over his career as a writer, Richards has published novels, stage plays, short stories and non-fiction work.His fiction typically addresses the lives and experiences of poor and working class residents of the Miramichi region of New Brunswick, exploring spiritual and philosophical themes influenced by Richards' Roman Catholic faith.