SPOTLIGHT: AJ Wright

AJ Wright, author of “THE MAP BY HAND”, which was published in the Summer 2026 issue of Eleventh Hour, has some news to share with the community! Her first collection, titled “The River on Our Hands,” comes out August 25th.

 In “The River on our Hands,” AJ Wright asks what silence carries through personal and collective memory, and how the tragedy echoes through the land and people who continue to live in the region.

AJ Wright is a poet from Appalachia whose work appears or is forthcoming in SWING, APARTMENT Poetry, As It Ought To Be, Hole in the Head Review, and elsewhere. She runs Pictura Journal, and her first collection will be published by Pulley Press in 2026. She was awarded an Oak Ledge Residency at Hindman Settlement School in 2025, and she currently lives in West Virginia. You can find her online at ajwrightpoet.com.