Kay Ryan (Author of The Best of It)

Kay Ryan鈥檚 Followers (168)

Kay Ryan

Born

in San Jose, California, The United States

September 27, 1945

Genre

Poetry

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Born in California in 1945 and acknowledged as one of the most original voices in the contemporary landscape, Kay Ryan is the author of several books of poetry, including Flamingo Watching (2006), The Niagara River (2005), and Say Uncle (2000). Her book The Best of It: New and Selected Poems (2010) won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Ryan's tightly compressed, rhythmically dense poetry is often compared to that of Emily Dickinson and Marianne Moore; however, Ryan鈥檚 often barbed wit and unique facility with 鈥渞ecombinant鈥� rhyme has earned her the status of one of the great living American poets, and led to her appointment as U.S. Poet Laureate in 2008. She held the position for two terms, using the appointment to champion community colleges lik Born in California in 1945 and acknowledged as one of the most original voices in the contemporary landscape, Kay Ryan is the author of several books of poetry, including Flamingo Watching (2006), The Niagara River (2005), and Say Uncle (2000). Her book The Best of It: New and Selected Poems (2010) won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Ryan's tightly compressed, rhythmically dense poetry is often compared to that of Emily Dickinson and Marianne Moore; however, Ryan鈥檚 often barbed wit and unique facility with 鈥渞ecombinant鈥� rhyme has earned her the status of one of the great living American poets, and led to her appointment as U.S. Poet Laureate in 2008. She held the position for two terms, using the appointment to champion community colleges like the one in Marin County, California where she and her partner Carol Adair taught for over thirty years. In an interview with the Washington City Paper at the end of tenure, Ryan called herself a 鈥渨histle-blower鈥� who 鈥渁dvocated for much underpraised and underfunded community colleges across the nation.鈥�

Ryan鈥檚 surprising laureateship capped years of outsider-status in the poetry world. Her quizzical, philosophical, often mordant poetry is a product of years of thought. Ryan has said that her poems do not start with imagery or sound, but rather develop 鈥渢he way an oyster does, with an aggravation.鈥� Critic Meghan O鈥橰ourke has written of her work: 鈥淓ach poem twists around and back upon its argument like a river retracing its path; they are didactic in spirit, but a bedrock wit supports them.鈥� 鈥淪harks鈥� Teeth鈥� displays that meandering approach to her subject matter, which, Ryan says, 鈥済ives my poems a coolness. I can touch things that are very hot because I鈥檝e given them some distance.鈥�

Kay Ryan is the recipient of several major awards, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation. She has received the Union League Poetry Prize and the Maurice English Poetry Award, as well as the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. Since 2006 she has served as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. ...more

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Kay Ryan鈥檚 books

Average rating: 4.04 · 4,194 ratings · 619 reviews · 35 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	The Best of It: New and Selected Poems 4.11 avg rating — 1,692 ratings — published 2010 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Niagara River 4.04 avg rating — 647 ratings — published 2005 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Say Uncle 4.03 avg rating — 579 ratings — published 1991 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Erratic Facts 3.78 avg rating — 370 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Elephant Rocks: Poems 3.87 avg rating — 354 ratings — published 1996 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Synthesizing Gravity: Selected Prose 4.41 avg rating — 178 ratings — published 2020 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flamingo Watching 4.04 avg rating — 90 ratings — published 1994	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Strangely Marked Metal 3.83 avg rating — 53 ratings — published 1985 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Jam Jar Lifeboat and Other Novelties Exposed by Kay Ryan, Carl Dern (Illustrator), Marie Dern (Editor) 4.20 avg rating — 25 ratings — published 2008 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dragon acts to dragon ends 3.17 avg rating — 6 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Kay Ryan (?)

“It isn't ever delicate to live.”
― Kay Ryan

1019 likes

“The day misspent,
the love misplaced,
has inside it
the seed of redemption.
Nothing is exempt
from resurrection.”
― Kay Ryan, Say Uncle

tags: redemption

931 likes

“It鈥檚 hard not
to jump out
instead of
waiting to be
found. It鈥檚
hard to be
alone so long
and then hear
someone come
around. It鈥檚
like some form
of skin鈥檚 developed
in the air
that, rather
than have torn,
you tear.

"Hide and Seek”
― Kay Ryan, The Niagara River

tags: kay-ryan

49 likes

See all Kay Ryan's quotes »

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Kay Ryan鈥檚 Followers (168)

Kay Ryan

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