I learned a ton from this reflective book on beech trees and yet still feel like I know so little about them. Wright died on Januat the age of 67 in Barrington, Rhode Island. In 1983 she moved to Providence, Rhode Island to teach writing at Brown University as the Israel J. In 1981, Wright lived in Dolores Hidalgo, Mexico and completed her third book of poems, Translation of the Gospel Back into Tongues. Wright and Gander married in 1983 and had a son, Brecht, and co-edited Lost Roads until 2005. In 1979, she moved to San Francisco, where she met poet Forrest Gander. After Stanford died in 1978, Wright took over Lost Roads, continuing the mission of publishing new poets and starting the practice of publishing translations. In 1977 the publishing company founded by Frank Stanford, Lost Roads Publishers, published Wright's first collection, Room Rented by A Single Woman. Her poetry thesis was titled Alla Breve Loving. She earned a BA in French from Memphis State College (now the University of Memphis) in 1971 and briefly attended law school before leaving to pursue an MFA from the University of Arkansas, which she received in 1976. Wright was born in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Wright taught at Brown University for over thirty years.Ĭ. Wright has received numerous honors for her poetry, including the National Book Critics Circle Award. She did not want the stump to linger as a reminder.īorn in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, C. Herrick wanted the tree cut to the grass.

Herrick said her grandson was going to be so mad when he came to town to find his favorite climber gone. George and Nannette Herrick allowed me to watch their best-loved beech be brought to the ground. Honoring Wright's lifelong fascination with books as objects, this final work is a three-panel hardcover that encloses the body of text, illustrated with striking color photographs of beech trees by artist Denny Moers. Written in Wright's singular prosimetric style, this 'memoir with beech trees' demonstrates the power of words to conserve, preserve, and bare witness. Before Wright's unexpected death in 2016, she was deeply engaged in years of ambling research to better know this tree-she visited hundreds of beech trees, interviewed arborists, and delved into the etymology, folk lore, and American history of the species. Wright has been writing some of the greatest poetry-cum-prose you can find in American literature.' -Dave EggersĬasting Deep Shade is a passionate, poetic exploration of humanity's shared history with the beech tree. Wright belongs to a school of exactly one.' -The New York Times

Casting Deep Shade by C.D. Wright