Selected Poems [Paperback]

The first selected poems of a major poet who wrote with more heart than any other North American poet of the twentieth century (Rodney Jones,Parnassus)

More than any other poet of his generation, James Wright spoke to the great sadness and hope that are inextricable from the iconography of America: its rail yards, rivers, cities, and once vast natural beauty. Speaking in the unique lyrical voice that he called his Ohioan, Wright created poems of immense sympathy for sociey's alienated and outcast figures and also of ardent wonder at the restorative power of nature.

Selected Poemsfills a significant gap in Wright's bibliography: that of an accessible, carefully chosen collection to satisfy both longtime readers and those just discovering his work. Edited and with an introduction by Wright's widow, Anne, and his close friend the poet Robert Bly, who also wrote an introduction,Selected Poemsis a personal, deeply considered collection of work with pieces chosen from all of Wright's books. It is an overdue--and timely--new view of a poet whose life and work encompassed the extremes of American life.

James Wright(1927-80) won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972. His books includeSaint Judas,Shall We Gather at the River, andThe Branch Will Not Break. FSG publishedAbove the River: The Complete Poemsin 1992.