Franz Wright’s collection of poems, Walking to Martha’s Vineyard (2003)
Meeting times and locations:
- Monday, September 13th, 7 p.m., the first floor Conference Room of the Warner Building. At this meeting discussants should be prepared to discuss all of the collection.
- Monday, September 20th, 7 p.m., the Parish Hall
Here is the author, William Kennedy, on Franz Wright’s Walking to Martha’s Vineyard:
“’If they’d stabbed me to death on the day I was born, it would have been an act of mercy,’ writes Franz Wright. And elsewhere: ‘There is a power that wants me to live, I don’t know why.’ I know why. It is to write the extraordinary poetry he has created from his drug addiction, and now, in this new collection, from his addiction to regeneration and to the grace he finds in a silent god. These are desperately radiant poems, a gift of lucidity from the depths of a blasted life.”—William Kennedy (from the back cover of Walking to Martha’s Vineyard.)
And here is a bio of Franz Wright:
Franz Wright was born in Vienna in 1953 and grew up in the Northwest, the Midwest and Northern California. His most recent works include The Beforelife (which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize) and Ill Lit: Selected & New Poems. He has been the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts grants, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Fellowship, and the PEN/ Voelcker Prize, among other honors. Walking to Martha’s Vineyard won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Franz Wright works at the Edinburgh Center for Mental Health and the Center for Grieving Children and Teenagers and lives in Waltham, Massachusetts, with his wife, Elizabeth.
Where can I purchase this book?
Walking to Martha’s Vineyard is currently available at Accent on Books on Merrimon Avenue (828-252-6255), at discounted price, thanks to parishioner Lewis Sorrells.
How can I keep track of Book Group offerings?
For up-to-date information on Book Group offerings, please visit the Book Group link at this site.
The All Souls Book Group is the nucleus of the Kay Falk Literary Project, which is centered at the Cathedral as part of its teaching mission. For more information, please contact Emilie White at etwhite8@charter.net. Newcomers are always welcome.