James Ragan is an internationally recognised poet who has been praised by Pulitzer winner Henry Taylor as “a snake charmer whose words work real magic.” In his newest collection, Ragan hails the imagination: ‘I am the sky’s shadow wish / writing this only to breathe its light.’ Shouldering the burdens of a beleaguered world, facing a dangerous future, Ragan presents a gallery of marvels — poems of nature, love, jazz, and family, echoing the likes of Heaney, Rilke and Yeats. And where some of the poems address the despairing tragedies of history, all remain affirmations of hope, reassuring and buoyant.
“Ragan dominates the art of image, the art of poetic line, and the art of poetic narration with insight that marks major poets.”
– Miroslav Holub, Nobel Prize Nominee
“Fine-grained, a remarkable range of history, thematic variety, and tonal dexterity.”
– CK Williams, Pulitzer Prize Winner
James Ragan is a poet and playwright. His poetry collections, translated into 12 languages, include In the Talking Hours (Figueroa, 2004; ISBN 9781932800012) and Too Long a Solitude (Oklahoma, 2009; ISBN 9780806140162). In 1985, he was one of three Americans, including Bob Dylan and Robert Bly, invited to perform at the First International Poetry Festival in Moscow. He lives in California.