Poet and playwright Jay Wright, the visiting Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature in Washington University’s Department of English in Arts & Sciences, will give a dramatic reading of his work at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14.
In addition, Wright will read from his poetry at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16.
Both events — which together launch the Fall 2004 Reading Series, sponsored by the Department of English and The Writing Program, also in Arts & Sciences — are free and open to the public and take place in the Formal Lounge of the Ann W. Olin Women’s Building, located on Throop drive, east of the intersection of Big Bend Boulevard and Snow Way. A reception will follow each event, and Wright’ books will be available for purchase after the poetry reading on Thursday. For more information, call (314) 935-7130.
Wright is the author of eight volumes of poetry, most recently Transfigurations (2000), which collects all of his previously published poems from such volumes as Soothsayers and Omens (1976), The Double Invention of Komo (1980); Elaine’s Book (1988); Boleros (1991); and Transformations (1997). In addition, he has written more than 30 plays.
Wright’s many honors include fellowships from the MacArthur, Guggenheim and Hodder foundations; a 2000 Lannan Literary Award for Poetry; and the 62nd Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets.
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Who: Poet and playwright Jay Wright What: Writing Program Fall Reading Series When: Dramatic reading: 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14; Reading from his poetry: 8 p.mm. Thursday, Sept. 16 Where: Ann W. Olin Women’s Building, located on Throop Drive, east of the intersection of Big Bend Boulevard and Snow Way Cost: Free and open to the public Information: (314) 935-7130 |
“Jay Wright is one of the true hidden legislators of the world, as Shelley characterized the poets,” says Steven Meyer, associate professor of English at Washington University. “His world is our world—not one fragment or another, from one vantage point or another, but the world in its multiplicity. This New Mexican, African American, Native American, Anglo, Scottish, Canadian New Englander mixes jazz, particle physics, and Komo ritual because they all enter, reenter—transformative, transforming—into the composition of our New World. And he mixes them gorgeously, prodigiously.”
Born in Albuquerque, N.M., Wright spent his teen years in San Pedro, C.A., where his father was a shipyard worker. After stints with the San Diego Padres baseball organization—playing in both the Arizona-Texas and California leagues—and with the army, stationed in Germany, Wright studied comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley, and at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He currently resides with his wife, Lois, in Vermont.