William Garrett Wright is an American poet, editor, and writer. Raised in
Edgefield, South Carolina
Edgefield is a town in Edgefield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 4,750 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Edgefield County.
Edgefield is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area.
Geography
Edgefield is l ...
, Wright has worked as an educator at institutions such as
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
,
Oxford College at Emory University, and
The University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...
. His poems have been published in ''
Oxford American
The ''Oxford American'' is a quarterly magazine that focuses on the American South.
First publication
The magazine was begun in late 1989 in Oxford, Mississippi, by Marc Smirnoff (born July 11, 1963).
The name "Oxford American" is a play on ''T ...
'', AGNI,
Antioch Review
''The Antioch Review'' is an American literary magazine established in 1941 at Antioch College in Ohio. The magazine was published on a quarterly basis. One of the oldest continuously published literary magazines in the United States prior to it b ...
,
Kenyon Review
''The Kenyon Review'' is a literary magazine based in Gambier, Ohio, US, home of Kenyon College. ''The Review'' was founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom, critic and professor of English at Kenyon College, who served as its editor until 1959. ' ...
, and Shenandoah, among others. His first book of poetry, ''Dark Orchard'', was published in 2005. His third book, ''Tree Heresies'', was released in 2015 and won Wright the 2016 Georgia Author of the Year (Poetry) award. ''Specter Mountain'', a collaborative volume of poems written with Jesse Graves, won the ''Appalachian Book of the Year'' award in 2019.
Life
Wright was born and raised in
Edgefield, South Carolina
Edgefield is a town in Edgefield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 4,750 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Edgefield County.
Edgefield is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area.
Geography
Edgefield is l ...
. He earned a
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in English from the
University of South Carolina Aiken
The University of South Carolina Aiken (USC Aiken, USCA, or South Carolina Aiken) is a public university in Aiken, South Carolina. It is part of the University of South Carolina System and offers undergraduate degree programs as well as master' ...
, an
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in English from
Sam Houston State University, and a
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in English (Creative Writing) from the
University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...
.
In the spring of 2016, he served as
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...
Department of English Writer-in-Residence.
Wright is the series editor for ''The Southern Poetry Anthology''.
Selected bibliography
Poetry collections
* ''Grass Chapels: New and Selected Poems.'' Mercer University Press.
* ''Tree Heresies.'' Mercer University Press.
* ''Night Field Anecdote.'' Louisiana Literature Press.
* ''Bledsoe''. Texas Review Press.
* ''Dark Orchard.'' Texas Review Press.
Chapbooks
* ''April Creatures.'' Blue Horse Press.
* ''Xylem & Heartwood.'' Finishing Line Press.
* ''Sleep Paralysis.'' Stepping Stone Press.
* ''The Ghost Narratives.'' Finishing Line Press.
Collaborative full-length
* ''Specter Mountain.'' Mercer University Press. (Co-written with Jesse Graves), 2018.
* ''Creeks of the Upper South.'' Jacar Press and Unicorn Press (jointly published). (Co-written with
Amy Wright
Amy Wright is an American actress and former model. She has appeared in such films as ''The Deer Hunter'', '' Breaking Away'', '' The Accidental Tourist'', '' Hard Promises'', ''Crossing Delancey'', and ''Miss Firecracker''. She is the widow o ...
), 2016.
As editor
* ''Broken Hallelujah: The New and Selected Poems of Jack Butler.'' Texas Review Press, 2015.
* ''Why He Doesn’t Sleep: The Selected Poems of Stephen Gardner.'' Texas Review Press, 2013.
As co-editor
* ''Hard Lines: Rough South Poetry.'' University of South Carolina Press, 2016. (Co-edited with Daniel Cross Turner).
* ''The World Is Charged: Poetic Engagements with Gerard Manley Hopkins.'' Clemson University Press and Liverpool University Press, 2016 (Co-edited with Daniel Westover).
As series editor and volume co-editor
* ''The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume VIII: Texas.'' Texas Review Press, 2018.
* ''The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume VII: North Carolina.'' Texas Review Press, 2014.
* ''The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume VI: Tennessee.'' Texas Review Press, 2013. (Co-edited with Jesse Graves & Paul Ruffin).
* ''The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume V: Georgia.'' Texas Review Press, 2012. (Co-edited with Paul Ruffin).
* ''The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume IV: Louisiana.'' Texas Review Press, 2011. (Co-edited with Paul Ruffin).
* ''The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume III: Contemporary Appalachia.'' Texas Review Press, 2010. (co-edited with Jesse Graves & Paul Ruffin).
* ''The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume II: Mississippi.'' Texas Review Press, 2010. (Co-edited with Stephen Gardner).
* ''The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume I: South Carolina.'' Texas Review Press, 2007. (Co-edited with Stephen Gardner).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, William Garrett
Poets from South Carolina
21st-century American poets
Writers from South Carolina
University of Southern Mississippi alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
People from Edgefield, South Carolina