A new book of poetry from a Pulitzer Prize-winning master poet These new poems by the author of Saint Judas and The Green Wall embody a sharp break with his earlier work. Their impact is well described by the British critic Michael Hamburger: "He has absorbed the work of modern Spanish and other continental poets and evolved a medium of his own. This medium dispenses with argument and rhetoric, and presents the pure substance of poetry, images which are 'the objective correlatives' of emotion and feeling. It is only in the new collection that Wright has found this wholly distinctive voice." Mr. Wright is well known for his previous books and his contributions to virtually every literary journal of importance. His numerous honors include a Fullbright fellowship, a Kenyon Review fellowship, and many other prizes and awards.

The Branch Will Not Break is a reflective anthology of poems which evokes its author's upbringing in poverty-stricken Ohio during the 1930s and 1940s. Representing a radical and innovative departure from the more conventional and nature-orientated works of his earlier career, this collection sees James Wright embark on sudden narrative shifts while conjuring evocative imagery full of implication. Often, the poems begin with a description of a person or object ? after these initial verses, we find a blossoming of imagery. This collection was the result of years of collaboration Wright enjoyed with fellow poet Robert Bly. Economical with words, Wright's poems are generally short but unfailing in evocation and implication. Some of the shortest, most rhythmic works in this collection carry shades of Eastern poetry such as Haiku. Others declare a raw scene, image and meaning in an appealing and deceptively simple manner.

The Branch Will Not Break is a reflective anthology of poems which evokes its author's upbringing in poverty-stricken Ohio during the 1930s and 1940s. Representing a radical and innovative departure from the more conventional and nature-orientated works of his earlier career, this collection sees James Wright embark on sudden narrative shifts while conjuring evocative imagery full of implication. Often, the poems begin with a description of a person or object - after these initial verses, we find a blossoming of imagery. This collection was the result of years of collaboration Wright enjoyed with fellow poet Robert Bly. Economical with words, Wright's poems are generally short but unfailing in evocation and implication. Some of the shortest, most rhythmic works in this collection carry shades of Eastern poetry such as Haiku. Others declare a raw scene, image and meaning in an appealing and deceptively simple manner.