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Poet Michael Ryan reads Thursday in Little Theatre

Oct. 19, 2005

KALAMAZOO--Poet Michael Ryan is the next author in the Gwen Frostic Reading Series at Western Michigan University, with a Thursday, Oct. 20, reading beginning at 8 p.m. in the Little Theatre. All readings in the series are free and open to the public.

Ryan's "New and Selected Poems" is the first collection to appear in fifteen years from this acclaimed and masterly poet. Comprising fifty-seven poems from three award-winning volumes and thirty-one brilliant new poems, it displays the wit and passion he has brought to universal themes throughout his career. In both dramatic lyrics and complex narratives, Ryan renders the world with startling clarity, freshness, and intimacy.

Ryan is the author of three previous books of poetry. "Threats Instead of Trees" won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award and was a National Book Award finalist in 1974; "In Winter" was a National Poetry Series selection in 1981; and "God Hunger" won the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize in 1990. He is also the author of "A Difficult Grace," a collection of essays, and a memoir, "Secret Life." His new memoir was excerpted in The New Yorker and will appear this spring. Ryan is a professor of English and creative writing at the University of California, Irvine.

Future readings in the Gwen Frostic Reading Series

Nov. 10, novelist Josip Novakovich
Dec. 1, poet Jonathan Johnson

All readings are Thursdays at 8 p.m. in the Little Theatre, which is located at the corner of Oakland Drive and Oliver Street on Western Michigan University's East Campus. There is free off-street parking behind the theatre.

For more information about the Gwen Frostic Reading Series, contact Dr. Arnie Johnston, chair of the Department of English, at arnie.johnston@wmich.edu. To be added to the mailing list for reading series announcements, write to Becky Beech at rebecca.beech@wmich.edu and include your complete name and postal address.

Media contact: Thom Myers, (269) 387-8400, thom.myers@wmich.edu

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