Jeffrey Cyphers Wright, Poet, Publications and Other Material
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 4444
Publications and other material by poet Jeffrey Cyphers Wright.
Original accession includes six copies of books of poetry by Wright, all signed by the author (1981-2017) and two issues of Live Mag! journal of art and poetry (2018). There is also ephemera, including notices for events involving Wright's work (2016-2017) and poetry postcards printed by Hard Press (1977-1978, undated).
Addendum of 2020-2023 includes publications of Wright’s work, postcards from Hard Press, correspondence, flyers, photographs, and the Acker Award box from 2018. Publications include Live Mag! issues (the covers of which were designed by Wright), Cover Magazine, the Underground National issues, and assorted poetry books, booklets, zines, and anthologies that feature Wright’s writing or editing. Also includes Cover Magazine-related photos and cover proofs. Correspondence includes correspondence to and from Jayne Anne Phillips, as well as a poetry manuscript between Wright and Phillips. Also includes some of the published poetry of people who Wright worked with and who influenced his work.
No special access restriction applies.
Researchers may access digitized materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.
The donor licensed this material to the WVRHC under CC BY-NC 4.0. Permission to publish or reproduce beyond the terms of this license is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
Jeffrey Cyphers Wright is an artist, critic, eco-activist, impresario, editor and publisher, and is best known as a poet, associated with New Romanticism and the New York School.
His family moved frequently while he was growing up; he lived in Delaware, then moved to Buckhannon, West Virginia from age 6 until age 13. He then spent a year each in England; Buckhannon, WV; Fairfax, VA; Ann Arbor, MI; and Flagstaff, AZ. In 1972, he came to Morgantown, WV, and received a B.A. in English from West Virginia University in 1974. He spent some time during college summers and after graduation working in book sales in the South before a brief stint in a public administration program. He moved to New York City in 1976 and has lived and worked there since. He received his MFA in Poetry from Brooklyn College where he studied with Allen Ginsberg and also taught. He served on the Poetry Project Board of Directors at St. Mark’s Church and taught there as well. In 1978 he started Hard Press, which published postcards by artists and poets. From 1987 to 2000 he ran Cover Magazine, the Underground National. The magazine's archives are in the Fales Library and Special Collections at New York University. During this time, he also served on the Board at Mason Gross School of the Arts.
Wright is the author of 20 books of verse, including most recently Fuel for Love! which won the James Tate Award, and Doppelgängster! from MadHat Press. Other titles include Blue Lyre! from Dos Madres Press, Party Everywhere! from Xanadu Press, Radio Poems! from The Operating System, and Fake Lies! from Fell Swoop. He also contributes criticism regularly to American Book Review and ArtNexus. His poems have appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies. Wright received a Kathy Acker Award in 2021 was artist-in-residence at Howl! Happening. As of 2024, he produces literary events and co-publishes with Lori Ortiz and Ilka Scobie an annual art and poetry journal Live Mag!.
-Much of this information was derived from "About." Jeffrey Cyphers Wright, Jeffrey Cyphers Wright, 08 April 2024, https://jeffreycypherswright.com/about/.
2.56 Linear Feet (1 document case, 2.5 in.; 4 document cases, 5 in. each; 1 flat storage box, 4 in.; 1 item (box), 4.5 in. )
English
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / Fax: 304-293-3981 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Gift from Wright, Jeffrey Cyphers, 2019 July 23. Addenda gifted 2020-2023.
Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository