David Wright

Poet David Wright is the author of three poetry collections: A Liturgy for Stones (Cascadia Publishing House, 2003), The Small Books of Bach (Wipf and Stock, 2014), and Local Talent (Purple Flag, 2019).

Wright’s work has appeared in 32 Poems, Image, Ecotone, Poetry East, Crab Orchard Review, Sou’wester, Ninth Letter, and on the Academy of American Poets website; in anthologies including A Cappella: Mennonite Voices in Poetry (University of Iowa Press, 2003) and In a Fine Frenzy: Poets Respond to Shakespeare (University of Iowa Press, 2005); and in other publications. 

Though much of Wright’s poetry centers on the landscapes, people, and communities of the Midwest, his earlier poems also engage with spiritual questions, riffing on biblical texts and language. Wright’s more recent poetry engages both visual and musical ekphrasis.

Wright earned a BA at Millikin University, an MA at Truman State University, and an MFA at Ashland University and completed graduate study in American literature and critical theory at Loyola University Chicago. He is a recipient of an artist’s fellowship for poetry from the Illinois Arts Council. Wright, an associate professor of English at Monmouth College, teaches creative writing and American literature.