Jeffrey Cyphers Wright

Jeffrey Cyphers Wright (born in 1951) is a New Romantic poet associated with St. Mark's Poetry Project. He is considered to belong to the "New York School third generation" according to "The Brooklyn Rail" in a review of "Captured, A Film and Video History of the Lower East Side" published by Seven Stories Press.Fact|date=July 2008 Best known as a poet, he is also a publisher, artist, songwriter, critic and eco-activist in New York City.

Upon arriving in New York in 1976, Wright studied with Ted Berrigan and Alice Notley at St. Mark’s Church. He also studied with Allen Ginsberg at Brooklyn College and received an MFA in poetry. He started Hard Press in 1978 and published 100 postcards by different artists and poets and three books, including the anthology "3-Zero," Turning Thirty. A selection of postcards were included in the book "A Secret History of the Lower East Side," and were displayed at New York Public Library. He read his poems twice in the Museum of Modern Art's poetry series curated by Lita Hornick. From 1986 until 2001 he published 80 issues of "Cover Magazine," The Underground National. Wright currently edits Live Mag! and hosts poetry events at the Bowery Poetry Club and La Mama Etc.

Wright is the author of "Employment of the Apes", "All in All", "Drowing Light" and other books of poetry, most recently "The Name Poems" from Sisyphus Press. Wright's poems also appear in six anthologies including "Out of This World" from Crown Press and "Thus Spake the Corpse" from Black Sparrow Press. Poetry and art criticism has appeared in "ARTnews", "Art and Antiques" and "The Brooklyn Rail" among others. Wright is currently the art critic for "Chelsea Now".

Wright lives in the East Village in New York City where he is also an impresario and MC who has hosted scores of poetry readings and performances at various venues, from libraries to cafes, clubs, galleries and community gardens. He has also taught poetry and writing for Teachers & Writers Collaborative, Brooklyn College, The Poetry Project and many other places. His oral histories from Harlem, "Over the Years," was published by Teachers and Writers and went into a second printing. He has published 10 volumes of poetry.

Criticism

"Wright is street smart." "Village Voice" Fact|date=July 2008

Upon publishing Wright’s long poem “Touch Base” in "Exquisite Corpse," editor Andrei Codrescu described the work as a “tour de force."

Hugh Seidman wrote about "Flourish," "These sonnets are a gas." Fact|date=July 2008

Bibliography

*"Translust" Five Fingers Press
*"Employment of the Apes" Chronic Editions
*"Charges" Remember I Did This For You Press
*"Two" (with Yvonne Jacquette) Toothpaste Press
*"Take Over" Toothpaste Press
*"All in All" Gull Press
*"Walking on Words" Vendetta Press
*"Drowning Light" Soncino Press
*"Flourish" Sonceno Press
*"The Name Poems" Sisyphus Press

References

*"Village Voice"
*"Beyond Baroque Newsletter"
*"The Brooklyn Rail"
*"Poetry Project Newsletter"