In Trajectories, poet, translator, human rights advocate, and world traveler Carolyne Wright maps her poetic path in the crossing of cultural, linguistic, and national boundaries. From her origins in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest through Latin America (Chile, Brazil) and South Asia (India, Bangladesh) through languages spoken in these regions (Spanish, Portuguese, and Bengali), Wright recalls and relives the poetic trajectory as well as the seeming tangents that one poet’s relatively uncommon life has taken. She pays tribute to poetic mentors of the “Northwest School,” to Bengali and Chilean women poets, to the poetry and music of Brazil, and to poets such as Elizabeth Bishop, Ted Hughes, and Sylvia Plath.

Throughout her essays and interviews and across a wide range of literary interests, Wright explores connections between family and national history, intersections of personal and public spheres, and the poetics of the era in which she moves. She connects lyricism to social engagement, witnessing contemporary and historical issues while remaining committed to the heightened, musical language of lyric poetry. Both personal and political, a compelling story and a work of criticism, Trajectories seeks essential insights into poetry as a path of discovery across the cartography of the human heart. Wright offers these experiences and insights as a map for readers who wish to share the journey.

Carolyne Wright is on the writing faculty at the Richard Hugo House literary center in Seattle, Washington. Her books include multiple award-winners, and most recently, Masquerade: A Memoir in Poetry (2021) and This Dream the World: New & Selected Poems (2017).