Meeting U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan at the Cleveland Public Library
Thank goodness Dianne Borsenik grabbed my camera and captured this shot of U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan signing my copy of her new book The Best of It: New and Selected Poems at the Cleveland Public Library's Louis Stokes Wing auditorium yesterday. I was a bit bashful with the camera that day. Admittedly, I was largely unacquainted with Kay Ryan's work until a friend loaned me a copy of one of her books a few weeks ago. But now I'm a huge fan — of her, of her poetry, and especially of her poetic ethos. I hope to write more about this in the near future.
I also filmed her entire reading and hope to have at least a short clip of it online as soon as possible.





That is so cool John!
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It's funny that I didn't really expect to like her or her poetry so much. Not sure why... but it goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover (or its title).
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I read a reviewer who said her work was quirky and odd. I knew right then that I'd like her.
Glad you had a cool experience.
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Thank you, Karen! I feel right at home with quirky and odd.
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I just posted a clip of Kay Ryan reading "Is It Modest?" at the Cleveland Public Library on Cleveland Poetics - The Blog.
http://clevelandpoetics.blogspot.com/2010/04/kay-ryan-is-it-modest-in-cleveland.html
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