The World Shouldering I

by James Ragan

These poems advocate for courage in the face of a future whose business it is to be dangerous. There is a gallery of marvels in these pages - poems of nature, love, jazz, family, and while some address the despairing tragedies of history, all remain affirmations of hope. "James Ragan's poems are satisfying and distinctive, full of arresting colocations and striking phrases."-Richard Wilbur "Ragan dominates the art of image, the art of poetic line, and the art of poetic narration with insight that marks major poets."-Miroslav Holub

80 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2013

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."