|
|
James
Ragan "He dominates of the art of image, the art of poetic line, with an insight that marks major poets." -the late Miroslav Holub, Nobel Prize nominee |
|
|
Poetry In the
Talking Hours (Herodias, NY/London, 1979, 2000) Editions Yevgeny Yevtushenko: Collected Poems 1952-1990 (with Albert Todd) Recordings New Letters on the
Air (Alfa Music/Sony) Stage Credits Saints Commedia Film Credits The Voyager The Man Lady Oscar (France) The Longest Yard Exile (PBS) The Border Matilda The Deerhunter Number One How the West Was Won Last Story of the Century |
James Ragan’s first book, In the Talking Hours (Herodias,
NY/London 1979, 2000), met with immediate, international praise: "a
testament to universal brotherhood, a celebration." (Yevgeny
Yevtushenko); "splendidly candid, original, energized, . . . and
humane." (Michael Harper). Now in its third printing, poems from Talking
Hours have won numerous distinctions, including the Emerson Poetry
Prize (William Stafford, judge), an NEA grant, Borestone Mountain
nominations, MacDowell fellowships, and the Swan Foundation Humanitarian
Award (Pittsburgh). Poems from Womb-Weary (Carol Publishing, NY 1990 were singled out for Pushcart nominations and a PSA Gertrude Blaytor Memorial Award. A finalist for the Walt Whitman Center Book Award and the PEN Center West Poetry Prize, the Womb-Weary collection elicited strong responses from Pulitzer winners Peter Viereck ("powerful and perceptive") and Henry Taylor ("a snake charmer whose words work real magic"), and from William Matthews ("a passage into the larger world of global citizenship, a second birth"). The Hunger Wall (Grove Press 1995) was received as "satisfying and arresting. A distinctive book" (Richard Wilbur) from one who "dominates of the art of image, the art of poetic line, with an insight that marks major poets" (Nobel Prize nominee, the late Miroslav Holub). Next came Lusions (Grove 1997), noted for its "ability to praise" (Jean Valentine) and its "remarkable range of history and tonal dexterity" (C.K. Williams) as he "continues his song through the centuries in language that echoes Rilke." (Publishers Weekly). Readers now await The World-Shouldering "I" (Grove, 2000). Translations of Ragan’s poetry have appeared in twelve European and Asian languages. Multilingual himself, Ragan co-edited Yevgeny Yevtushenko: Collected Poems 1952-1990 for Henry Holt Publishers (1990) with Albert Todd, ("a passionate and essential edition" -- The New York Times). He was invited to feature at Moscow’s inaugural International Poetry Forum (with Robert Bly and Bob Dylan) in 1985; a repeat invitation in 1990 (with Richard Wilbur, John Ashberry and Andrei Voznesensky) prompted interviews with Leslie Stahl (CBS News) and with Chicago radio’s Pulitzer-winner, Studs Terkel, who called Ragan’s work "a lyrical fusing of innocence and wisdom." Ragan received a Fulbright Senior Lectureship in poetry to the University of Ljubljana in 1984, and honorary induction into the Russian Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1997. An ambassador of the arts, he has read for four heads of state, and read and lectured at universities and writers’ conferences worldwide. In 1989, he performed as a guest of the Chinese Writers Association in Beijing. That year, the Fulbright Commission sent him to Tokyo, then to Paris and Prague in 1992, where he read at the invitation of Czech President and writer, Václav Havel. He has returned every Summer since 1993 as Poet-in-Residence at Charles University (Fulbright, 1999), and performed in Prague with Arthur Miller in 1994. Ragan has appeared on international radio and TV talk shows encluding NPR, Voice of America, Tokyo’s Cosmo Space, and CNN’s "Showbiz Today," and is a book reviewer for The Los Angeles Times. He has recorded New Letters on the Air for Alfa Music/Sony and A Century of Recorded Poetry: In Their Own Voices for Rhino Records. The host of PBS’s "Poet’s Chamber" (Telly Award, 1996), in 1997, BUZZ Magazine named him one of its "100 Coolest People of Los Angeles: Those Who Make a Difference." Ragan’s stageworks include include "Saints" and "Commedia" (San Francisco, 1984, Raymond Burr, producer; Russian-language version, Theater Club Russakov, Moscow, 1987, Anatoly Elizarov, producer). His screenplays, optioned or produced, include, "The Voyager" (Sam Shepard), adapted from Max Frisch’s novel Homo Faber, "The Man," (Clint Eastwood) based on the life of Howard Hughes, and "Lady Oscar" (France, 1979). He has worked in various production capacities on "The Longest Yard," "The Border," "Matilda," and Oscar-winner, "The Deerhunter." Writer, producer and director of the 1981 PBS film, "Exile," based on the Iranian hostage crisis, Ragan was also a consultant on the movie pilot of the Emmy-winning TV series, "How the West Was Won," and post-production producer on Dyan Cannon’s Oscar-nominated, "Number One" ("both very funny and the most serious American film about children’s behavior in years." -- Vincent Canby). His most recent film, "Last Story of the Century" (Klaus Maria Brandauer, Mickey Rourke), about the siege of Sarajevo, is due out later this year. A native of Pittsburgh, James Ragan has been Director of the University of Southern California’s Professional Writing Program since 1981. He studied at St. Vincent College (B.A. English, 1966; Hon. Litt. D. 1990) and Ohio University (M.A. 1967, Ph.D. 1971), and has taught at Cal Tech, Ohio University, The University of Texas, UCLA, and The American College of Greece (Athens). Dr. Ragan was recently honored with the National Phi Kappa Phi Award for Creative Achievement in Poetry and with USC’s Faculty Recognition Award for Creative Artist.
|
|