"In a world that is nearly awash in first books, William Wright's 
Dark Orchard stands out for its lyrical obsession with the 
heritage a son may have from parents and from the deeply felt 
landscape of childhood. . . . The language is filled with a kind of 
desolation and a beauty that is not quite despair, something that 
is better known, one suspects, by the young than by the rest of 
us. We should be grateful for this chance to rediscover its reach."
—Phebe Davidson

"William Wright's poems welcome us into a rich and enchanting 
universe. Planted in the fecund soil of his native South Carolina, 
this book's vision is simultaneously delicate and dangerous, 
touching and alarming. Woven throughout with the subtle 
undertones of his poetic forebears (one sees Theodore Roethke, 
Robert Penn Warren, and James Wright dancing in the shadows), 
Dark Orchard is an impressive debut volume with a depth of 
insight that belies the author's youth, a collection that leaves me 
thirsting for the next book."—Stephen Gardner

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Born in 1979, WILLIAM WRIGHT was raised in the ridge-country 
of Edgefield, South Carolina. His work has appeared in many 
journals, including Poet Lore, Cimarron Review, Texas Review, 
Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Red Owl, Phoebe, StorySouth: 
The Best from New South Writers, and Yemassee. Wright teaches 
and tutors writing and literature at Sam Houston State University 
and Montgomery College.