The Hunger Wall: Poems

by James Ragan

In 1992, critically acclaimed poet James Ragan was in Los Angeles when riots exploded across racial and class lines. That same year he was also living in Prague when Czechoslovakia divided into two separate nations, motivated by the principles of "nationalism." This odd coincidence forms the crux of his new, eagerly anticipated book of poetry. The poems in The Hunger Wall, named for a wall near the Prague Castle, take these two cultural sensibilities that seem worlds apart and explore the subtle nuances of their unlikely similarities. In beautifully crafted and metaphorically rich language, Ragan studies what it means to set a "border," whether it be political, racial, or economic. The Hunger Wall examines a continually changing world — a world of shifting cultural identities in which the widening gap between the rich and the poor is dangerously explosive.

112 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 1996

About the author

Author of 7 books and translated into 10 languages, James Ragan is a Czechoslovak-American poet who has read at Carnegie Hall and the United Nations and for 6 heads of state -- including Czech President Vaclav Klaus, S. Korean Prime Minister Young-Hoon Kang, and Mikhail Gorbachev at Moscow's International Poetry Festival (with Robert Bly and Bob Dylan). His poetry has been called "arresting and distinctive" (Richard Wilbur), "Fine-grained and witty," (C.K.Williams), and "dominating--with insight that marks major poets" (Miroslav Holub). His plays "The Landlord" and "Commedia" have been produced in Beijing, Moscow, Athens, etc. Ragan has worked as a screenwriter at Paramount Pictures for Producer Al Ruddy and in production on "The Border," "Exile," and Oscar winner "The Deer Hunter." He served for 25 yrs as Director of USC's Professional Writing Program and for 16 yrs as Distinguished Professor at Charles University in Prague. In 1996, Buzz Magazine named Ragan one of the "100 Coolest People in Los Angeles: Those Who Make a Difference."