Poetry by Ron Padgett
March 22, 2011 6 x 9 216 pages 978-1-56689-256-8
These witty poems ache to save the worldinfusing light, energy, and humor into everyday life.
Padgetts title poem asks: How long do you want to go on being the person you think you are? / How Long, a city in China. With the arrival of his first grandchild, Padgett becomes even more inspired to confront the eternal mysteries with a wry, rueful honesty. This elegiac and witty collection illuminates the world at large and at smallfrom the Great Wall of China to the radiant details of the everydayand brings wonder and pleasure with it.
About the Author
Ron Padgett grew up in Tulsa and has lived mostly in New York City since 1960. Among his many honors are a Guggenheim Fellowship, the American Academy of Arts and Letters poetry award, the Shelley Memorial Award, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. Padgetts How Long was Pulitzer Prize finalist in poetry and his Collected Poems won the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America and the Los Angeles Times prize for the best poetry book of 2013. In addition to being a poet, he is also the translator of Guillaume Apollinaire, Pierre Reverdy, and Blaise Cendrars. His own work has been translated into eighteen languages.