Pulitzer Prize Poetry Winner

Black Zodiac

by Charles Wright

Summary

These meditative poems set Appalachian landscape against the legacies of Dante, Chinese landscape verse, and a restless, half-believing search for the divine. Wright's signature "dropped line" splits each long line into cascading half-steps, generating a hesitant, prayerful music. The collection extends his ongoing project of writing a lifelong, fragmented spiritual autobiography.

Historical Context & Significance

Wright's work is characterized by the "dropped line" stanza, creating a rhythmic sense of longing.