Kay Ryan Biography and Timeline

Kay Ryan was born on September 21, 1945 in California and grew up in San Joaquin Valley.
After high school Ryan received a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in English from the UCLA.

Growing up, and through her education she drew inspiration for her work from Emily Dickens and Robert Frost.

Time Line of Published Works and Achievements

• 1983: Dragon Acts to Dragon Ends 
• 1985: Strangely Marked Metal 
• *1994: Flamingo Watching
• 1996: Elephant Rocks 
• 2000: Say Uncle
• 2005: The Niagara River
• 2006: Elected Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets
• 2008: Appointed Congressional Poet Laureate consultant in poetry
• 2010: The Best Of It: New and Selected Poems   

* This collection of work was a finalist for the Lamont Poetry Selection, and for the Lenore Marshall Prize.

Ryan's awards for her poetry include: The Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, a Guggenhelm fellowship, the Ingram Merrill Award, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Union League Poetry Prize, the Maurice English Poetry Award, three Pushcart Prizes,  a four time select for The Best American Poetry, and was included in The Best American Poetry from 1988 to 1997.

From 1971 to today, Kay Ryan has lived in Marin County, California with her partner Carol Adair. They both taught at the College of Marin in Kentfield, California. They lived together until Adair's death in 2009. Ryan now lives alone, retired from writing poetry, but still teaching English at local colleges in California.