GRASS CHAPELS offers readers a sampling of William Wright's poetry from eight previous collections, along with a section of new poems. The poems in this collection are grounded in the beauty and energy of the physical world, particularly wilderness, and specifically Southern landscapes. Wright's poetry is often gothic in tenor, and these meticulously wrought pieces investigate themes as varied as the limits of language, the importance and amorphous nature of memory, the miracle and mystery of consciousness, and the cyclical and embattled state of both human beings and the natural world from which they spring. Wright's works are informed by his knowledge of the hard sciences and his belief in the power of the human imagination, creating varied works that integrate geology, botany, biology, spacetime, speculative visions of the future, and an understanding of the past. Just as often, Wright works with motifs such as race relations, family, kindness, and religiosity.