Kay Ryan
U.S. Poet Laureate · 2008-2010 · as printed by the Library of Congress
Our reading written by Tale of the Muse
Kay Ryan, born in San Jose, California, in 1945 and raised in the San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert, served from 2008 to 2010. Her project, Poetry for the Mind's Joy, included a writing contest, a video conference with community college students and April 1 as Community College Poetry Day. The Best of It (2010) won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
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Appointment and term
U.S. Poet Laureate, 2008-2010
Life
Kay Ryan was born in 1945 in San Jose, California, and grew up in the San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert.
Books and honors
The Best of It: New and Selected Poems (2010), for which she won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Kay Ryan’s honors include a MacArthur Genius Grant, a National Humanities Medal, fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, and a Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.
Laureate projects
Her project as laureate, “ Poetry for the Mind’s Joy, ” included a poetry-writing contest, a video conference with students at community colleges, and designation of April 1 as Community College Poetry Day.
Source
All quotes on this page come from the Library of Congress through its JSON API. All poets laureate →