"Cooling Time: An American Vigil focuses on the place and roles that poetry can play in the Here and Now. . . . Cooling Time is a compendium of aphorisms, autobiographical riffs, mini-manifestos, close readings of other contemporary poets, political provocations, and self-examinations."
—Nashville Scene
"In Cooling Time: An American Poetry Vigil, Wright extends her penchant for the book-length poem to include the book-length mix of poetry and prose. . . . [A] very fine new book."
—Providence Journal
"Wright proves herself to be one of the most complex, fascinating and ultimately rewarding American poets writing today."
—Library Journal
"Wright is one of America's oddest, best, and most appealing poets."
—Publishers Weekly
"C.D. Wright just won a big award called the MacArthur, which is awarded to people for being original thinkers and doing good things. Wright has been doing very idiosyncratic and always passionate work for a long time, and Cooling Time: An American Poetry Vigil (Copper Canyon Press) is my favourite book of hers. It's a sort of manifesto that explains why and how she writes, and why poetry is necessary. But it's not pedantic, or dull, or in any way expected. It feels very Whitman-esque (to me at least), fast and soaring like that; it's so inspiring that it's hard to sit still while reading it."—Dave Eggers, The Guardian (UK)
An American Poetry Vigil
Read Selected Poems
Excerpt from "By Jude McCramack Goddamnit to Hell's Dog Foot,"