Acclaimed Poet, Screenwriter, Cultural Ambassador Joins Albany For Reading

April is National Poetry Month and Tuesday night  presents a man for whom poetry is not only a worthy art in itself, but one whose influence contributes to opening minds and building bridges between cultures.

James Ragan’s expansive world view is evident in his many roles: poet, translator, playwright, screenwriter, teacher, and cultural ambassador. For 25 years he served as director of the Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California.

Ragan has published seven books of poetry: In the Talking Hours, Womb-Weary, The Hunger Wall, Lusions, Shouldering the World, and, as co-editor, Yevgeny Yevtushenko: Collected Poetry 1952-1990. His most recent collection is Too Long A Solitude (University of Oklahoma Press, 2009). His poetry has been translated into 10 languages.

Ragan’s first book, In the Talking Hours (2004), was initially banned in Czechoslovakia, the homeland of his parents and eldest siblings, and of Ragan’s first language—the melodic Slovak dialect whose influence, along with Ragan’s riveting delivery, contributes to the visceral pleasure of hearing his poems read aloud.

Since 1993, Ragan has returned each summer to his familial roots in the Czech Republic (initially through an invitation from Vaclav Havel) to teach as Distinguished Visiting Professor at Charles University in Prague.

Ragan has read for numerous heads of state and the United Nations, and, through the U.S. World Affairs Council, has read and lectured in Tunisia, Jordan, China, India, and Tibet. With Robert Bly and Bob Dylan, Ragan was asked to perform at the First International Poetry Festival in Moscow in 1985. Since that time he has read for audiences throughout Europe and Asia.

Ragan’s plays have been staged internationally, and he has written and worked in production on films that include The Longest Yard, The Deer Hunter, and, in 2009, The Last Story of the Century (based on the siege of Sarajevo) and The Shoe.  

As a Distinguished Visiting Professor in Film (most recently at the University of Oklahoma and at Academia Internacional de Cinema, Såo Paulo), Ragan draws lessons for filmmaking from poetry’s crisp pace and its efficient delivery of image and metaphor.

Ragan’s poetry is praised as “distinctive . . . arresting” (Richard Wilbur); “fine-grained and witty [with] a remarkable range of history and geography, thematic variety and tonal dexterity”(C.K. Williams); and “lyrical and authoritative” (Josephine Miles).

Pulitzer Prize winner Henry Taylor says, “James Ragan is a snake charmer whose words work real magic.” The Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko calls Ragan’s poems “a testament to universal brotherhood, a celebration.” 

In preparing to host James Ragan at Albany, I watched numerous online video readings and interviews and was won over by Ragan's command of language, sincere interest in working writers and students, his application of poetry's art to film, and his belief in the potential success of our being "citizens of the world." 

For Poetry at the Albany Library, he will be reading from his latest, highly acclaimed book, Too Long a Solitude, and speaking about writing, travel, film and international relations from an individual artist's perspective.

The East Bay's own Al Young, California State Poet Laureate Emeritus, is so enthusiastic about James Ragan's reading at Albany, that he has kindly set up this link, so you can hear and see more about Ragan for yourself.

• Listen to James Ragan recite by heart “The Tent People of Beverly Hills”
• James Ragan in conversation with Michael Krasny, host of KQED Forum

Everybody makes mistakes ... ! If there's something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, give editor Emilie Raguso a ring at 510-459-8325 or email her at emilier@patch.com.