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Article: The First Workshop: A Memoir of James Wright.(poet)
- Article from:
- The American Poetry Review
- Article date:
- July 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 World Poetry, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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I sat at the seminar table directly opposite James Wright, feeling myself an outsider, although Wright had done nothing to encourage the feeling. I was not a student at SUNY Buffalo in the summer of 1974, and, in fact, have never been a formal creative writing student. I simply appeared, and he was most courteous, even courtly, in his welcome.
He asked each of us to read a poem of our own. When I looked up after reading the last line of my poem, I saw a face transformed. It was luminous. Wright had the ability to listen with the purest appreciation to each of us as we read. "Thank you for reading that beautiful poem," he said. From then on his voice seemed purple ...