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Apr 18, 2011

UCLA alumna Kay Ryan wins Pulitzer for poetry

UCLA alumna and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Kay Ryan. Photo by Jennifer Loring.
UCLA alumna and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Kay Ryan. Photo by Jennifer Loring.
UCLA alumna Kay Ryan won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for poetry today, April 18, specifically for her book showcasing 45 years of work, "The Best of It: New and Selected Poems."
 
The Pulitzer announcement describes Ryan's poems as "witty, rebellious and yet tender, a treasure trove of an iconoclastic and joyful mind."
 
Ryan received her bachelor's in English from UCLA in 1967, followed quickly by her master's in English in 1968, also at UCLA. In 2008 she was named poet laureate of the United States, and has won numerous highly prized literary awards, notably the $100,000 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize from the Poetry Foundation in 2004. Ryan has also regularly appeared in the annual anthology, "The Best American Poetry."
 
Ryan will appear on campus this Saturday, April 23, at UCLA Live for a poetry reading with another former poet laureate, Billy Collins.
 
To learn more about Ryan, her poetry, and her philosophy that "much of the best poetry is funny," read the 2008 UCLA Today article "Brevity and wit: alumna Kay Ryan named poet laureate."