SC25 - Day Thirty-One (Copper Canyon Press)
The spirit of every age is manifest in its public works. (Eric Schlosser)
Saved for last, a poetry book that’s not like any of the others, not really; also, sadly, I don’t have access to the original edition (with photos). But the text-only version is still powerful, complex, and devastating.
August 31st - Book Thirty-One (Copper Canyon Press)
Number of Pages: 80
Start Page: 14
Number of Poems: it’s complicated
Time Reading: (did not time)
The book is One Big Self: an investigation, by C. D. Wright, who was a poet, social activist, recipient of a Guggenheim, National Book Critics Circle Award, Griffin Poetry Prize, and MacArthur Fellow. This book was a collaboration with photographer Deborah Luster, focused on the lives of Louisiana prisoners, and isn’t exactly a poetry collection, and isn’t exactly not; it’s a mosaic, originally published in large format with photographs. I have a text-only copy and haven’t seen one with the pictures (yet).
And that’s a wrap for my 2025 Sealey Challenge—watch for my Sealey Challenge wrap-up post in the next few days! And some more stuff. Because Things Are Happening 😉.
I remember reading this for the first time so well!