About the Book
A 34-page single-poem book of serious fun and autobiographical hints.
It contains dozens of Jeffrey Cyphers Wright's color collages comprising his words among variously shaped portions of appropriated wallpaper, stamps and insignias onwhich he has scribbled, painted and pasted. Some were re-photographed under glass, with objects placed above them in collaboration with publisher-artist Barbara Rosenthal, some of whose childhood artifacts are imaged within the collages. The first edition was produced in 2014 while he was recipient of a Creative Projects Grant at eMediaLoft, NYC.
For this second edition, each page has been re-designed in brilliant color, including thetext. The colors and sizes of Wright's phrases speak them to the reader in various voices: loud, soft, public, private, dialog and narration.
The poem is an oddesy / odyssey, in which a character called "me" repeatedly tells the viewer to meet them somewhere, some places well-known to the New York poetry scene, but others more obscure, or playfully admonishes them to "work hard and play fair," but atthe same time "party in your underwear." And that character is designed into the collages, sometimes as a little boy or girl watering flowers, driving a go-cart, riding a bronco, doing a handstand, and in other energized positions.
About the Author :
Jeffrey Cyphers Wright is a publisher, critic, eco-activist, impresario, and artist, who is best known as a New Romantic and Surrealist poet. He received an MFA in Poetry after studying with Allen Ginsberg. He has taught at Brooklyn College, the Poetry Project, Teachers & Writers Collaborative, and other places. He is author of 17 books of verse, including Blue Lyre from Dos Madres Press. His poetry is in New American Writing, Posit, Sensitive Skin, Poets Reading the News, Big City Lit, and other magazines, as well as in several anthologies. His criticism appears regularly in ArtNexus and American Book Review. Formerly, Wright founded and ran Cover Magazine. Currently, he hosts events in New York at La Mama ETC, KGB Lit Bar, and Howl! Happening, and publishes Live Mag!. He is a recipient of the Kathy Acker Award for Avant-Garde Artists
Review :
praise
Wright knows how to be, on the page, both in his house and in his imagination. --Alice Notley
A true poet and pioneer. Startlingly beautiful. -- -- Ilka Scobie, Urban Graffiti
Jeffrey Cyphers Wright is a leading voice of New Romanticism in the American Underground. His 15th book is a collection of stand-alone poems that combine to form a powerful portrait of a citizen, lover, family member, and seasoned artist. Blue Lyre will pull your leg and your heartstrings....comments about relationships, bar-hopping, and the creative process, are all tied, sometimes transparently, sometimes obscurely, to an ecological perspective. This is what gives the book so much unity and, dare I say it, heart....in multiple poems, Wright takes techniques developed by the New York School and uses them to infuse poetry with a resonant, resolute ecological mind. --Jim Feast, Cafe Review
I emptied two magazines of my .380 PPK at Jeffrey C. Wright's bulletproof poems, and they didn't make a dent. A poet true to his word and the Word, Jeff takes himself as seriously as a threatened world of fragile humans will allow. He is lyrical, attentive, and gracious. He is also civilized: Sextus Propertius in NY. --Andrei Codrescu, author of The Art Of Forgetting: New Poems
I've been a fan of Jeffrey Cyphers Wright's poetry since the nineteeneighties when I rst heard him read. He writes explosive poetry thatalways has a political edge. His new book, Blue Lyre, is a masterpiece and a must read for all his fans out there. Wright is a true original who has perfected his voice. His poetry is not only a record of our times but landmarks for future generations. Yes, he is that good. --Hal Sirowitz, former poet laureate of Queens, New York
