Talking in the Dark

Wesley McNair has twice been invited to read his poetry by the Library of Congress, served five times on the jury for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry, received the PEN New England Award for Literary Excellence in Poetry, and was honored with a United States Artists Fellowship as one of America's "finest living artists." His most recent book-length poem is Dwellers in the House of the Lord.

Praise for Wesley McNair"One of the great storytellers of contemporary poetry."—Philip Levine, Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winner "Because he is a true poet, his New England is unlimited. Whole lives fill small lines, real to this poet, therefore to us."—Donald Hall, Harvard Book ReviewDwellers in the House of the Lord (Godine, 2020): "There's so much life in this beautiful book that it feels like a living thing. Wesley McNair is a kind of Chekhov of American poetry.”—Ted Kooser, Pulitzer Prize winner and Poet LaureateThe Unfastening (Godine, 2017): "A distinctly New England strain of candor and restraint and a walloping matter-of-factness."—The Boston GlobeThe Ghosts of Me and You (Godine, 2006): "McNair’s poems are full of people with lives like his own, like ours, ordinary lives that are incredibly unique and complex."—Louis McKee, Library JournalThe Town of No & My Brother Running (Godine, 1998): “McNair is one of the only handful of younger poets willing to take risks. This is, without a doubt, one of the year’s best poetry collections.”—ALA Booklist