Synopses & Reviews
Casting Deep Shade is a passionate, poetic exploration of humanity's shared history with the beech tree. Before Wright's unexpected death in 2016, she was deeply engaged in years of ambling research to better know this tree--she visited hundreds of beech trees, interviewed arborists, and delved into the etymology, folk lore, and American history of the species. Written in Wright's singular prosimetric style, this "memoir with beech trees" demonstrates the power of words to conserve, preserve, and bare witness.
Honoring Wright's lifelong fascination with books as objects, this final work is a three-panel hardcover that encloses the body of text, illustrated with striking color photographs of beech trees by artist Denny Moers.
George and Nannette Herrick allowed me to watch their best-loved beech be brought to the ground. Mrs. Herrick said her grandson was going to be so mad when he came to town to find his favorite climber gone. Mrs. Herrick wanted the tree cut to the grass. She did not want the stump to linger as a reminder.
Review
"C.D. Wright belongs to a school of exactly one." The New York Times
Review
"C.D. Wright has been writing some of the greatest poetry-cum-prose you can find in American literature." Dave Eggers
Synopsis
Shortly after C.D. Wright was commissioned to write a short poetic essay about a single beech tree, she became engulfed in "beech-consciousness," and her creative powers went into overdrive. What was to be a straight-forward, time-defined writing assignment became a passionate obsession that intertwined with all strata of her life. Wright sought out and visited hundreds of beeches, interviewed arborists, took field notes and photographs, and researched the history of the species. Completed just before her unexpected death in 2016, Casting Deep Shade is an exhaustive poetic encyclopedia of humanity's shared history with the beech, encompassing autobiography and American history, etymologies and folklore. Casting Deep Shade extends outwards in every direction towards the interconnectedness and shared fate of all living things. In the face of loss--past, present, and future--Wright's final work demonstrates the power of words to conserve, preserve, and bare witness. Illustrated by a dozen photographs taken by artist Denny Moers.
About the Author
Born in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, C. D. Wright has received numerous honors for her poetry, including the National Book Critics Circle Award. Wright taught at Brown University for over thirty years.