Jack Ridl (born April 10, 1944) is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, and was a professor of English at

Hope College Hope College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan, United States. It was originally opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled. The first freshman coll ...

Life and career

Ridl's father, Charles "Buzz" Ridl, coached basketball at

Westminster College, Pennsylvania Westminster College is a private liberal arts college in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1852, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The student population includes approximately 1,300 undergraduate and gra ...

and the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

. Ridl graduated from

with a BA in 1967 and M.Ed., in 1970. He lives in

Laketown Township, Michigan Laketown Township is a civil township of Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,928 at the 2020 census. Communities Castle Park is an unincorporated private community in the township, consisting of approximately 10 ...

, with his wife, Julie. His work has appeared in ''LIT'', ''The Georgia Review'', ''FIELD'', ''Poetry'', ''Ploughshares'', ''Prairie Schooner'', ''Gulf Coast'', ''The Denver Quarterly'', ''Chelsea'', ''Free Lunch'', ''The Journal'', ''Passages North'', '' Dunes Review'',''Dunes Review''. Volume 16 Issue 1. Winter, 2012. and ''Poetry East''. Hope College has named its Visiting Writers Series for him.

Awards

* 2013 ForeWord Reviews' INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award for ''Practicing to Walk Like a Heron''—Winner of the Gold Medal in the category of Poetry (Adult Nonfiction) * 2007 Society of Midland Authors Award for ''Broken Symmetry'' in the category of Poetry * 2002 Say-the-Word Poetry Award from The Ellipse Art Center in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

, for "The Dry Wallers Listen to Sinatra While They Work", chosen by David St. John * 2001 Chapbook Award from The

Center for Book Arts Center for Book Arts (CBA) is a non-profit arts organization, founded in 1974. It is the first organization of its kind in the United States dedicated to contemporary interpretations of the book as an art object while preserving traditional prac ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, for ''Against Elegies'', selected by

Sharon Dolin Sharon Dolin is an American poet, translator, and essayist, who is noted for her work in ekphrasis—writing in dialogue with art. Life Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she lives in Manhattan, where she is Associate Editor of Barrow Street ...

and

Billy Collins William James Collins (born March 22, 1941) is an American poet who served as the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. He was a Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York, retiring in 2016. Co ...

* 1996, The Carnegie Foundation named him Michigan Professor of the Year.

Works

* * ''After School'', Samisdat Press. 1988. * * ''Against Elegies'', The Center for Book Arts, (2001) * * *
Practicing to Walk Like a Heron
'. Wayne State University Press. 2013. .

Non-fiction

* *

Editor

* (2nd edition 2008) * (2nd edition 2008) * *

References

External links

"Author's blog""Jack Ridl", ''The Writer's Almanac''"An Interview with Jack Ridl", ''Through the 3rd Eye''

Perfectly Imperfect": Jack Ridl at TEDxMacatawa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridl, Jack 1944 births American male poets Hope College faculty Westminster College (Pennsylvania) alumni Living people