Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Charles Wright, "Improvisations on Montale" 1981, Accession #11183, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This item was purchased from James S. Jaffe Rare Books, Haverford, Pennsylvania, 2 June 1995.

Biographical/Historical Information

Charles Penzel Wright, Jr., born August 25, 1935, in Pickwick Dam, Hardin County, Tennessee, was educated at Davidson College, B.A., 1957; University of Iowa, M.F.A., 1963; and, University of Rome, 1963-1964. He married Holly McIntire on April 6, 1969; they have one child, Luke Savin Herrick. He was professor of English at the University of California, 1966-1983; Souder Family Professor of English at the University of Virginia, 1983- ; and, a Fulbright lecturer in Venice, Italy, 1968-1969. He is a member of PEN American Center, the Poetry Society of America, and the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Awards and honors include: Fulbright scholar at University of Rome, 1963-1965; Guggenheim Fellow, 1975; and, PEN translation award, 1979. He is the author of numerous books of poetry, including The Venice Notebook (1971); Bloodlines (1975); Colophons (1977); and, The Southern Cross (1981). He translated Eugenio Montale's The Storm for Field Editions, 1978, and Monttetti for Windhover, 1981.

Scope and Content Information

This collection contains Charles Wright's "Improvisations on Montale," an essay on Italian poet and Nobel laureate Eugenio Montale (1986-1981).