In his third collection, poet Nick Courtright explores the world at large in an effort to reconcile selfhood as an American in the international community, while also seeking anchors for remembering a wider world often lost to view in our shared though increasingly isolated experience of reality.
Beginning in Africa with investigations of religion and love, The Forgotten World then moves to Latin America to tackle colonialism and whiteness. From there it travels to Asia to discuss economic stratification and Europe to explore art and mental health, culminating in a stirring homecoming to troubled America, where family, the future, and what matters most rise to the forefront of consideration.
Through all of it, Courtright displays a deft hand, at once
pained, at once bright, to discover that although the wider world seems farther
away than before, the lessons it offers are more needed than ever.
"In The Forgotten World, Nick Courtright explores the intersections of being a citizen of one country and the desire to live as a citizen of the world..." - Octavio Quintanilla, author of If I Go Missing and 2018-2020 Poet Laureate of San Antonio
