Research Guides (LibGuides): Visiting Writers' Series LibGuide: Ross Gay

Ross Gay

Ross Gay Photo Attribution: Ross Gay Reads at the 2015 National Book Awards by Katexic Clippings Newsletter. Used under (CC BY 2.0)

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INTERVIEWS

Interview with Indiana University, 2013
Ross discusses his life in Indiana, his role in student life, and his favorite poetry.
Los Angeles Review of Books Interview, "The Terrible and the Possible," 2016
Callie Seskel and Ross Gay discuss his creative process and a poet and professor.

PODCASTS

Many works by our Visiting Writers' Series authors are pulled from their normal places on the shelves and temporarily located in a special display in the Browsing Collection. This collection is located near the Information Commons service desk, next to the vending machines and newspapers.

When you look at an item's record in WorldCat Discovery, be sure to note whether the items is in the General Stacks (mostly 2nd floor) or the Browsing Collection (1st floor). If you have any questions about locating an item on the shelf, don't hesitate to ask us!

Remember - if we don't own it or our copy is currently checked out, you probably can still get a copy through PALShare or interlibrary loan! Learn more.

Bringing the Shovel Down by Ross Gay
"Bringing the Shovel Down is a re-imagination of the violent mythologies of state and power."
-Amazon description
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay
"Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude is a sustained meditation on that which goes away-- loved ones, the seasons, the earth as we know it -- that tries to find solace in the processes of the garden and the orchard."
Against Which by Ross Gay
An exploration of the various ways language can help us transcend both the banal and unusual cruelties which are inevitably delivered to us, and which we equally deliver unto others. These poems comb through violence and love, fear and loss, exploring the common denominators in each. "Against Which seeks the ways human beings might transform themselves from participants in a thoughtless and brutal world to laborers in a loving one." -Amazon description

"Ross Gay is a poet, educator, and painter who has authored three poetry collections: Against Which, Bringing the Shovel Down, and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude. He is also the coauthor of the chapbooks Lace & Pyrite: Letters from Two Gardens and River. His poems have appeared in various publications, including American Poetry Review, Atlanta Review, Harvard Review, Columbia: A Journal of Poetry and Art, and Margie: The American Journal of Poetry. In a biography of Gay on the Pennsylvania Center for the Book Web site, his poetry was described as "vibrant and full of imagery, exploring everything from the basketball court to conceptions of time to his father."

Gay grew up playing football and basketball, but he became deeply interested in poetry during his time at Lafayette College. He earned a B.A. in English and art from there and went on to attend Sarah Lawrence College, where he received an M.F.A. in poetry. He later graduated from Temple University with a Ph.D. in English. Gay teaches at Indiana University and in the low-residency program at Drew University. Gay also serves as an editor with the chapbook presses Q Avenue and Ledge Mule Press, and he is one of the founding editors of the online sports magazine Some Call it Ballin'. He has received fellowships from Cave Canem, the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, and the Guggenheim Foundation. In addition to poetry, editing, and teaching, he is a basketball coach and a painter.

Source: "Ross Gay." Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2017. Biography in Context. Accessed 2 June 2017.

Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete This link opens in a new window
The series provides information on authors and their works while placing writers in the larger perspective of literary history.

Poetry Foundation Biography: Ross Gay

ROSS GAY REVIEWS AND CRITICISM

DATABASES

Literary Sources This link opens in a new window
Literary Sources provides information in primary sources, critical articles, literary and cultural analysis, and biographies.

New York Times Book Review
This link will take you to the New York Times Book Review hosted on the Literature Resource Center database. It includes issues from 2001 to present. You can search within the entire publication (box at top of page) or you can select a specific year from the drop-down menu. Older issues are available via other databases - ask a librarian for help accessing these issues.
Library Journal Book Review
Click on the Library Journal link (use the one that has more full texts available) to access it through the Butler library. Use the author's name as your search term in the "search within the publication" box to find reviews of his work.

Campus Visit

Ross Gay Site

Ross Gay Site

Visiting Writers' Series LibGuide: Ross Gay

Ross Gay

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Campus Visit

Ross Gay Site

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