Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 19 (2004) Winner
Kay Ryan
ケイ・ライアン
Kei Raian
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1945-09-21 （San Jose, California）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- San Jose, California (birth) → Raised in areas of the San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert → Marin County, California (since 1971)
Career
- Occupations
- Poet, educator
- Active Years
- 1970-2024
- Affiliations
- College of Marin
- Memberships
- Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets (since 2006)
- Influenced By
- Emily Dickinson, Marianne Moore, May Swenson, Stevie Smith, Wendy Cope, Amy Clampitt
- Nominations
- 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antelope Valley College | — | — | — | — | United States |
| University of California, Los Angeles | College of Letters and Science | English | BA, MA | 1960s | United States |
Antelope Valley College
Country:
United States
Attended
University of California, Los Angeles
College of Letters and Science
/ English
Degree:
BA, MA
Period:
1960s
Year of Graduation:
1968
Country:
United States
BA 1967, MA 1968
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Guggenheim Fellowship | — | — | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | Winner |
| 2004 | Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize | — | — | Poetry Foundation | Winner |
| 2008 | United States Poet Laureate | — | — | Library of Congress | 2008–2010 |
| 2011 | Pulitzer Prize for Poetry | The Best of It: New and Selected Poems | Poetry | Columbia University | Winner |
| 2011 | MacArthur Fellowship | — | — | John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation | Winner |
| 2012 | National Humanities Medal | — | — | National Endowment for the Humanities | Winner |
Guggenheim Fellowship
2004
Organization:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result:
Winner
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
2004
Organization:
Poetry Foundation
Result:
Winner
United States Poet Laureate
2008
Organization:
Library of Congress
Result:
2008–2010
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
2011
Work:
The Best of It: New and Selected Poems
Category:
Poetry
Organization:
Columbia University
Result:
Winner
MacArthur Fellowship
2011
Organization:
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Result:
Winner
National Humanities Medal
2012
Organization:
National Endowment for the Humanities
Result:
Winner
Awards & Nominations
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
1 appearances
-
Edition 93 (2011) Winner
Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism
1 appearances
-
Edition 26 (2021) Winner
Works
Major Works
The Best of It: New and Selected Poems
2010 PoetryA body of work spanning 45 years, witty, rebellious and yet tender, a treasure trove of an iconoclastic and joyful mind.
witrebelliousnesstendernessiconoclasmjoy
The Niagara River
2005 PoetryKay Ryan's sixth collection of poetry.
play of languagequirks of logic
Elephant Rocks
1996 PoetryCollection of compact poems.
Bibliography
- Dragon Acts to Dragon Ends
- Strangely Marked Metal
- Flamingo Watching
- Elephant Rocks
- Say Uncle
- The Niagara River
- Jam Jar Lifeboat & Other Novelties Exposed
- The Best of It: New and Selected Poems
- Erratic Facts
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- compact poemsrecombinant rhyme (internal rhyme)subtle, surprising rhymesnimble rhythmssly witoff-beat wisdom
- Recurring Motifs
- rehabilitation of clichésquirks of logic and languagenature of the mindlanguage molding reality
Legacy
Kay Ryan is an acclaimed American poet who served as the sixteenth United States Poet Laureate from 2008 to 2010. In 2011, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and was named a MacArthur Fellow. Her poetry is characterized by brevity, wit, and affinities with Emily Dickinson and Marianne Moore.
Academic Societies
- Academy of American Poets
Trivia
- She is a lesbian and was the first openly lesbian United States Poet Laureate.
- Her partner was Carol Adair from 1978 until Adair's death in 2009.
- Her first collection was privately published with friends' help.