[Yale-readings] Poet Jay Wright October 1, 5:00 PM

[Kuhl, Nancy]

Free and open to the Public:

 Jay Wright, Poetry Reading
Monday, October 1, 5:00 PM
Linsley-Chittenden Hall, room 317
63 Hight St
New Haven, CT
The John Christophe Schlesinger Visiting Writer Series
of the Department of English
Contact: richard.deming at yale.edu<mailto:richard.deming at yale.edu>

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Frequently described as a “poet’s poet,” Jay Wright has quietly built an impressive career as one of America’s leading African-American voices. His work, praised for its evocative language, introspective tone, and mythological imagery, has won many honors, including the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry, Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships, and Yale’s prestigious Bollingen Prize. Wright’s plays, essays, and poetry generally focus on a rediscovery of African-American heritage through historical study and personal experience. His poetry, often autobiographical and allegorical in nature, has been compared to the work of T. S. Eliot<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.poetryfoundation.org%2Farchive%2Fpoet.html%3Fid%3D81338&data=02%7C01%7Cnancy.kuhl%40yale.edu%7C4ed4244760b447d2316408d6221e949b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C636733912655197622&sdata=s1oHqV9u4yVGq4cE%2F9KkPXU3zDlgOTaO5b1oOrbohZ8%3D&reserved=0>, Walt Whitman<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.poetryfoundation.org%2Farchive%2Fpoet.html%3Fid%3D7388&data=02%7C01%7Cnancy.kuhl%40yale.edu%7C4ed4244760b447d2316408d6221e949b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C636733912655207627&sdata=QiAOKGkumNqu6lybnLbuOJnB7LJIv0MsofcDm25Zr%2FQ%3D&reserved=0>, and Hart Crane<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.poetryfoundation.org%2Farchive%2Fpoet.html%3Fid%3D1491&data=02%7C01%7Cnancy.kuhl%40yale.edu%7C4ed4244760b447d2316408d6221e949b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C636733912655207627&sdata=VlVobWc19CxSGZuiybD52qDAr9RzCER%2BE3E6JjcCc%2BE%3D&reserved=0>, and shows influences as various as Dante, Nicholas Guillen, Alejo Carpenter, St. Augustine, and the West African griot tradition. A recurring theme in Wright’s poetry is the attempt to overcome a sense of exclusion, whether from society or one’s own cultural identity, and to find growth and unity through a connection between American society (the experience of the present) and African traditions (the heritage of the past). Weaving together various world mythologies and cultures, Wright’s poetry reflects the influence of his birthplace in the American Southwest, as well as the heritage of his African ancestry. His poems explore history from this multicultural standpoint and often take the form of allegorical journeys and spiritual quests.



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