Franz Wright (1953-) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.

Born in Vienna on March 18, 1953, and educated at Oberlin College (1977), Wright won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2004 for his book Walking to Martha's Vineyard (ISBN 0-375-41518-1). He and his father, James Wright, are the only parent/child pair to have won the Pulitzer Prize in the same category. “Wien” redirects here. ... Oberlin College is a small, selective liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, in the United States. ... The Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. ... James Arlington Wright (December 3, 1927 – March 25, 1980), was one of the most beloved American poets of the second half of the 20th century. ...

Critic Denis Johnson has said, of the poems of Franz Wright, "they're like tiny jewels shaped by blunt, ruined fingers--miraculous gifts." Boston Review has called Wright's poetry "among the most honest, haunting, and human being written today" [1]. For Denis Johnson from London, who invented the bicycle forerunner called hobby horse, see Denis Johnson of London. ... Boston Reviews July/August 2006 Issue Boston Review is a national political and literary magazine, published bimonthly by Boston Critic, Inc. ...

2003's Walking to Martha's Vineyard, in particular, was well-received. According to Publishers' Weekly, the collection features "[h]eartfelt but often cryptic poems...fans will find Wright's self-diagnostics moving throughout." The New York Times noted that "Wright promises, and can deliver, great depths of feeling," while observing that "Wright depends very much on our sense of his tone, and on our belief not just that he means what he says but that he has said something new...[on this score] Walking to Martha's Vineyard sometimes succeeds" [2]. Poet Jordan Davis, writing for The Constant Critic, suggested Wright's collection was so accomplished it would have to be kept "out of the reach of impulse kleptomaniacs." Added Davis, "deader than deadpan, any particular Wright poem may not seem like much, until, that is, you read a few of them. Once the context kicks in, you may find yourself trying to track down every word he’s written" [3]. The logo of Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ...

Some critics were less welcoming. According to New Criterion critic William Logan, with whom Wright would later publicly feud, "[t]his poet is surprisingly vague about the specifics of his torment (most of his poems are shouts and curses in the dark). He was cruelly affected by the divorce of his parents, though perhaps after forty years there should be a statute of limitation...'The Only Animal,' the most accomplished poem in the book, collapses into the same kitschy sanctimoniousness that puts nodding Jesus dolls on car dashboards." The New Criterion is a New York-based magazine, a journal of art and cultural criticism. ... William Logan (born 1950) is an American poet, critic and scholar. ...

Wright is currently the Jacob Ziskind Visiting Poet-in-Residence at Brandeis University. Usen Castle, the most recognized building on campus Brandeis University is a private university located in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. ...

Selected works

• Earlier Poems (2007)
• God's Silence (2006)
• Walking to Martha's Vineyard (2003)
• The Beforelife (2002)
• ILL LIT: Selected & New Poems (1998)
• The Night World and the Word Night (1993)
• Entry in an Unknown Hand (1991)
• The Unknown Rilke: Expanded Edition (1991)
• Going North in Winter (1986)
• The One Whose Eyes Open When You Close Your Eyes (1982)
• 8 Poems (1982)
• The Earth Without You (1980)
• Tapping the White Cane of Solitude (1976)

External links

• April 2004 National Public Radio interview, including readings
• 2001 print interview with The Borzoi Reader