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Michael Ryan

b. 1946

American poet, writer and educator

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About Michael Ryan

Born 1946. Michael Ryan is an American scholar of English, poet, writer and teacher.

Michael Ryan (born 1946 in St. Louis) has been teaching creative writing and literature at University of California, Irvine since 1990.

Life He taught previously at the University of Iowa, Princeton University, the University of Virginia, and in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers. He is also a contributing editor at The Alaska Quarterly Review. He is currently the director of the MFA program at the University of California, Irvine.

He has written four books of poems, an autobiography, a memoir, and a collection of essays about poetry and writing.

His work has appeared regularly in The American Poetry Review, The Alaska Quarterly Review, The Threepenny Review, The New Yorker, Poetry Magazine.

He currently lives in California with his wife, Doreen Gildroy, and their daughter, Emily.

Awards 1974 Yale Series of Younger Poets Award for Threats Instead of Trees 1980 National Poetry Series, In Winter 1981 Guggenheim Fellowship 1987 Whiting Award 1990 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for God Hunger 2005 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for New and Selected Poems

Selected publications

New And Selected Poems. (Houghton Mifflin, 2004) Baby B [memoir]. (Graywolf Press, 2004) A Difficult Grace: On Poets, Poetry, and Writing [essays]. (University of Georgia Press, 2000) Secret Life [autobiography]. (Pantheon, 1995; Vintage paperback, 1996) God Hunger [poems]. (Viking Penguin, 1989; paperback, 1990) In Winter [poems]. (Holt, 1981) Threats Instead of Trees [poems]. (Yale University Press, 1974)

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Important facts

Born
1946, St. Louis
Birth century
Nationality
Employers
Princeton University, University of California, Irvine, University of Virginia, University of Iowa
Awards
Guggenheim Fellowship

People in Michael Ryan's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Michael Ryan's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Michael Ryan?

American poet, writer and educator

When was Michael Ryan born?

Michael Ryan was born in 1946 in St. Louis.

What is Michael Ryan's occupation?

Michael Ryan is a scholar of English, poet, writer and teacher.

What nationality is Michael Ryan?

Michael Ryan is American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Michael Ryan

· Wikidata: Q6834055

· DBpedia: Michael Ryan (poet)

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Michael Ryan. https://biography.guide/michael-ryan-scholar-of-english/

MLA: "Michael Ryan." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/michael-ryan-scholar-of-english/.

Chicago: "Michael Ryan." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/michael-ryan-scholar-of-english/.

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