Kay Ryan, 16th U.S. Poet Laureate. Photo: Library of Congress
By host Tom Ashbrook
Californian Kay Ryan will be the new poet laureate of the United States.
It's a title that sounds very grand for a poet whose verse can be so compact and grounded.
But Kay Ryan's ground goes deep. To fundamental questions of life, and how we live it -- what we share and what we hold.
In "The Well or the Cup," she asks:
How can you tell at the start what you can give away and what you must hold to your heart. What is the well and what is a cup. Some people get drunk up.
("The Well or the Cup," from "The Niagara River," 2005.)
This hour, On Point: A conversation with the newly-named poet laureate of the United States, Kay Ryan.
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Some of the poems read by Kay Ryan during this show:
Kay Ryan, recently named the 16th poet laureate of the United States. The author of six books of poetry, including "The Niagara River," "Say Uncle," and "Elephant Rocks," she received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize from The Poetry Foundation in 2004.
