Celebrate May Day and Kay Ryan’s Pulitzer by reading her prize-winning book The Best of It: New and Selected Poems, Grove Press, 2010. The award honors her “distinguished volume of original verse” and a career which has spanned 45 years.
While you are waiting for a library copy to arrive, visit Book Arts and Special Collections on the 6th floor to see another of her books and one of our treasures: Jungle Garden Press’s edition of Ryan’s Believe it or Not with drawings by Carl Dern. The library has no. 48, signed by Kay Ryan, Carl Dern, and Marie Dern. Ryan is a great fan of Ripley’s Believe It or Not (believe it or not!) and these entertaining poems are a response to the oddities found there.
You may enjoy reading more of her work at the Poetry Foundation or the Academy of American Poets websites.
Recent pieces in the Bay Citizen and the New York Times as well as KQED's interview with Ryan are also recommended.
Finally, as poetry is best heard, treat yourself to a brief poetry break and listen to Ryan reading Least Action and Cap at the Internet Archive.
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