Post by ajgo112 on May 31, 2013 18:32:12 GMT -5
Franz Wright, son of famous poet James Wright, is one of the most well renowned poets of our generation. Born in Vienna in 1953, Wright moved with his family at three months of age to the United States, growing up in Seattle, Minneapolis, and the San Francisco Bay area. His father, who struggled with drugs and alcoholism (which Franz later struggled with as well), abandoned him when Franz was only eight. His father often associated himself with other addicts, which had a profound effect on Franz, as he, “thought that all adults were insane drunks and chain smokers.” When Franz sent one of his first amateur poems at 15 to his father, he replied, “You’re a poet. Welcome to Hell.” Franz later went on to graduate from Oberlin college in 1977, and had a brief stint at a graduate writing school before dropping out.
Wright later went on to write several books of poetry, his first, published by a small press when he was only 21, titled, “Triskelion.” Wright, who struggled with manic depression, alcohol abuse, and drug addiction often times incorporates themes of isolation, darkness, and death into his poems. In an interview with the the New York Times, Wright explained how, “these diseases are chronic. ''You've got to work on them every day; they're never very far away. I thought of nothing but suicide, even in sleep.” As a result, he wasn't able to write for two years.
However, Wright would find his penmanship again in 1999, when he converted to Roman Catholicism, as, “from that point on, I began to be able to write again.” Many of his works prior to his conversion were engulfed in death and darkness, as his childhood and own early adulthood were gloomy and helpless. However, there is a clear shift in his works after his conversion, as Wright began focusing more on themes like rebirth, most prevalent in nature, with his constant use of metaphors and paradoxes associated with nature. Wright also began crafting poems about finding God, as he writes, “if You can make a star from nothing You can raise me up.” While he once dwelled on the aloofness one can experience, Wright began to mold his poetry differently to express a belief in unity and togetherness, as he expresses how, “no one is a stranger, this whole world is your home.”
His masterful use of writing techniques, like the paradoxes and metaphors, are most present in his 2004 Pulitzer Prize winning book Walking to Martha’s Vineyard, where he writes, “We are created by being destroyed.” This fusion between paradoxes and the imagery of rebirth in nature is prevalent throughout the book and many of his newer works, as he intertwines these themes and techniques along with splashes of his darker past to really capture the reader and express his take on life as a whole. Wright also uses an odd writing style, as it’s more of a staccato technique, carefully chopping up lines and placing large gaps of space in between certain lines for greater emphasis, as he writes, “You//who created the stars and the sea/come down, come down.”
Despite his tumultuous past, Franz Wright is able to successfully amalgamate his unique writing styles with his stellar wordplay and his trademark themes. Without further adieu, please join me in welcoming our visiting poet of 2013, Franz Wright.
Wright later went on to write several books of poetry, his first, published by a small press when he was only 21, titled, “Triskelion.” Wright, who struggled with manic depression, alcohol abuse, and drug addiction often times incorporates themes of isolation, darkness, and death into his poems. In an interview with the the New York Times, Wright explained how, “these diseases are chronic. ''You've got to work on them every day; they're never very far away. I thought of nothing but suicide, even in sleep.” As a result, he wasn't able to write for two years.
However, Wright would find his penmanship again in 1999, when he converted to Roman Catholicism, as, “from that point on, I began to be able to write again.” Many of his works prior to his conversion were engulfed in death and darkness, as his childhood and own early adulthood were gloomy and helpless. However, there is a clear shift in his works after his conversion, as Wright began focusing more on themes like rebirth, most prevalent in nature, with his constant use of metaphors and paradoxes associated with nature. Wright also began crafting poems about finding God, as he writes, “if You can make a star from nothing You can raise me up.” While he once dwelled on the aloofness one can experience, Wright began to mold his poetry differently to express a belief in unity and togetherness, as he expresses how, “no one is a stranger, this whole world is your home.”
His masterful use of writing techniques, like the paradoxes and metaphors, are most present in his 2004 Pulitzer Prize winning book Walking to Martha’s Vineyard, where he writes, “We are created by being destroyed.” This fusion between paradoxes and the imagery of rebirth in nature is prevalent throughout the book and many of his newer works, as he intertwines these themes and techniques along with splashes of his darker past to really capture the reader and express his take on life as a whole. Wright also uses an odd writing style, as it’s more of a staccato technique, carefully chopping up lines and placing large gaps of space in between certain lines for greater emphasis, as he writes, “You//who created the stars and the sea/come down, come down.”
Despite his tumultuous past, Franz Wright is able to successfully amalgamate his unique writing styles with his stellar wordplay and his trademark themes. Without further adieu, please join me in welcoming our visiting poet of 2013, Franz Wright.