“Poetry is a necessity of life. It is a function of poetry to locate those zones inside us that would be free, and declare them so.”
C.D. Wright (1949-2016) published sixteen collections of poetry and prose and served on the faculty at Brown University for decades. Her book One With Others [a little book of her days] was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Lenore Marshall Prize. She also received awards from the Lannan Foundation, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and in 2004 she was named a MacArthur Fellow. Reviewing Rising, Falling, Hovering, The New York Times noted: “C.D. Wright belongs to a school of exactly one.”
“I’ve been going back to a beloved late poet, C.D. Wright, who was my teacher at Brown, who passed away in 2016. I think it’s important for me to read her, because I always think that C.D. represents the best about American poetry, but also about America: the big heart, the generosity, the openness and the warmth, the inventive spirit. I feel that these things are what I—and probably a lot of people—might also need at this moment where things are not very stable in the world." —Dong Li interviewed in Zocalo
News
Keep up with the latest news on C.D. Wright's work, from new releases and up-to-date criticism to information on the Foundation for Contemporary Art's recently established C.D. Wright Award for Poetry.
Poems
C.D. Wright published 16 collections of poetry. She won numerous awards for her work, including the National Book Critic Circle Award, the Griffin Prize, and a Macarthur “Genius” Grant.
Interviews
C.D. Wright was interviewed throughout her career by her fellow poets, friends, and critics. These interviews offer Wright's readers some of her most down to earth and vital ideas on poetry, politics, and life itself.
Audio / Video
C.D. Wright was one of our greatest and most natural readers. Enjoy here a variety of audio and video recordings of live readings, talks, and interviews spanning her long and luminous career.
Books
Books
