© 2025 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

New Letters on the Air: U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan

In honor of the start of her second year as the 16th U.S. Poet Laureate, we present this encore interview with Kay Ryan. Sometimes seen as a poetry outsider, the California poet has spent her life teaching remedial English in Marin County, rather than making her living in the academic world of creative writing.

By New Letters on the Air

Kansas City, MO – Known for her compact poems that revel in word play, philosophy, and humor, Ryan reads from two of her books, "The Niagara River" and "Say Uncle," and talks about what led her to poetry and the influence of her recently deceased partner, Carol.

Listen here until November 4, 2009.

Download recent New Letters on the Air interviews or subscribe to the New Letters on the Air podcast

No matter what happens in Washington D.C., Kansas City needs KCUR. And KCUR needs you.

Our ability to report local news — accurate, independent and paywall-free — depends on you. Donate now to support fact-based news.