It is generally agreed that Jay Wright is one of the most significant American poets of the last fifty years. On the other hand, he has recently published a series of unconventional essays that he refers to as “examination papers,” which he defines as “designated investigations to myself.”
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Wright delves into perennial concerns in the arts and philosophy, such as language, aesthetic form, knowledge, time, and death, in these linked essays that resemble prose-poems, with only a few lines set on each page. For the first time, “Soul and Substance” is showcasing these works.
